KTVU: San Jose emergency response time debated
By Robert Handa
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Some people at a traffic accident in downtown San Jose Tuesday got a first-hand chance to evaluate a city decision dealing with emergency medical responses.
A young man on a bicycle was hit by a motorist on Reed Street Tuesday afternoon. He did not appear to suffer any life-threatening injuries but required medical attention he got from a San Jose Fire Department unit that one person said arrived, “really fast.”
“I saw the whole thing (accident) and it was really horrible,” said Jadon Dube, “but firefighters responded within three and a half to four minutes.”
But critics say the fast responses don’t happen consistently enough.
Some city council agree citing Santa Clara County’s recent decision to withhold payments because the San Jose Fire Department missed its contracted target of responding to 90-percent of its emergency medical responses within 8-minutes.
On Tuesday council members Sam Liccardo and Pete Constant proposed the city consider expanding a current Pilot program squad car which have two person crews, including a paramedic, who respond to cases first.
Liccardo says the program could expand the current five crews without adding personnel by breaking up some fire crews.
“We can get to more medical emergencies faster and much more efficiently than we can with four to five firefighters on a truck or engine,” said Liccardo, “it just makes common sense.”
The San Jose Firefighters union disagrees.
It points out the current squad car pilot program is still being evaluated and there’s no data yet showing it has helped response times.
Officials for the union and Fire Department also say the reduced crews would impact firefighting as well as treatment at the medical emergencies.
“When four people respond to an emergency,” said Union Vice President Joel Phelan, “they’re a lot more efficient and able to do the full scope of their job.”
Jadon Dube said he’s not sure which would be better after witnessing Tuesday’s accident.
“The full crew was able to help the victim and make sure he was okay before going to the hospital plus they helped keep other people calm,” Dube said, “but it’s hard to argue against anything that might bring help faster.”
“As long as someone is there that really knows how to evaluate the situation,” he said, “to take it from there until further help arrives.”
The city council had a similar discussion and also disagreed sharply on statistics regarding how many emergency medical responses the Fire department actually handles.
The council voted seven to three to conduct a study session on the proposal in April or May just prior to the June budget hearings.
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