AMR wants to take 2 minutes longer to respond in Clark Co.

VANCOUVER, Wash. – The company that provides most of the ambulance service in Clark County wants two more minutes to respond to emergency calls, forcing firefighters to act as first responders to more of them.

Emergency managers say ambulance paramedics and firefighter paramedics have the same medical training, and the only major difference between the two is that fire trucks can't transport patients to the hospital.

The idea is that an ambulance may not need to respond because not every call requires a trip to the hospital or extra paramedics.

While Clark County commissioners are OK with AMR’s idea, the Vancouver City Council wants more assurances.

Clark County Regional EMS manager Doug Smith-Lee, says firefighters can get to the scene fast, within five minutes most times, and they can and should handle more of the calls.

'What we're trying to do is really recognize the resources that we have within the community, make the best use of those resources without compromising patient care," he said.

While the firefighters are at the scene, the ambulance gets two extra minutes to respond. They can make sure firefighters don’t need the extra help and don't need AMR to transport a patient to the hospital. That way they don't double up on services and costs.

Smith-Lee says dispatchers can also help pinpoint which patients may need an ambulance right away.

"The concern is, are you going to delay getting the patient to the hospital because now you have a unit that slowed the clock for the ambulance? ... What we've done is we've identified those time-life critical patients who need to go to the hospital right away," he said.

It's efficient without affecting the quality of medical care, supporters say.

Clark County commissioners approved the proposed change Tuesday. The city of Vancouver is setting up another workshop to analyze the proposal. There's no timeline for if or when it'll go to a full council vote.