East Bay city managers call for faster ambulance response times
The city managers of Livermore and Pleasanton recently sent a letter to the Alameda County's contracted ambulance provider, Falck, saying that medical help is taking too long to reach patients in the far eastern parts of the county.
Marianna Marysheva, Livermore's City Manager, and Gerry Beaudin sent the letter jointly on December 27, 2023. In it, they say Falck has improved response times, but is still falling short.
Falck is required to be on scene of a priority call in 10-14 minutes at least 90% of the time, but the city manager's letter says that's only happening on 82-85% of priority calls.
Livemore resident Jake Davis knows the feeling of waiting for an ambulance all too well. When he thought he was having a heart attack, he called 911.
"The firetruck was there within minutes and they kind of kept me calm and everything and after a while the ambulance finally came," he says. Davis had an aortic aneurism and he had to get to the hospital right away.
"It's kind of a craps shoot as to whether you're going to get an ambulance in time to help with whatever the emergency situation is," says Livermore city councilmember
Bob Carling says delayed response times are nothing new. At this same time last year a staff report to the Pleasanton city council showed because of delayed response times at the end of 2021, Alameda County put Falck on a monitored performance improvement plan.
The recent letter from the city managers acknowledges Falck has improved response times since then, but notes the provider is still out of compliance.
Falck representatives did not want to speak with us on camera but did provide a statement, saying:
"Falck cares deeply about the health and safety of people in the communities we serve. We continuously monitor readiness, response performance, and quality of care, using local, national, and international expertise. While the data presented in the letter is of unknown origin and supports no conclusion, we work closely with County Health regulators on an ongoing basis to make improvements to the system, and are jointly exploring the concerns expressed in the letter. The delays experienced by patients as they access the EMS system are impacted by extended wait times at hospitals."
"We, the city of Livermore and city of Pleasanton are concerned about this and trying to work with the county and with the ambulance service to provide the kind of response times we think our citizens and residents deserve," says Councilmember Carling.
He went on to say cities are in a tough position because it's the county that decides who to contract with to provide ambulance services, so in some way their hands are tied. He says he does hopes more can be done during the next contract to guarantee adequate response times.