Santa Clara County to work with colleges and hospitals to improve ambulance response times

SAN JOSE – In response to a push by Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, the Board of Supervisors got an update earlier this month from the County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency outlining recent steps taken to improve ambulance response times. They also heard updates about steps being taken to address the paramedic shortage through collaboration with regional hospitals, Foothill College, and the National College of Technical Instruction. 

“At the end of last year, our ambulance response times were falling short of expectations. I asked for better response times, and County EMS and our private sector partner, American Medical Response (AMR), made significant improvements,” said Simitian, who serves as Chair of the County’s Health and Hospital Committee. “When you’re waiting for an ambulance, every minute counts. Ambulances are getting where they need to go faster than before. But there’s still more work to do.”

Santa Clara County contracts for ambulance services with Rural-Metro/AMR. The contract between AMR and the County requires AMR to respond to ambulance calls according to specified quality standards. However, they do not always meet those standards. This is in part because too few paramedics are being trained each year to meet rising demand for services.

“Our current EMTs and paramedics are doing great work. It’s a tough job,” said Simitian. “But there’s only so much a small cohort of them can do. If we want to keep response times up to our residents’ high standards, we’ve got to train more paramedics. It’s that simple.”

In December 2022, Simitian asked the County’s EMS Agency to work with AMR to come up with solutions to bring response times up quickly, which included:

• hiring travel paramedics
• increasing staff overtime
• offering recruitment bonuses
• using fire departments as backup

Since Simitian’s referral was introduced, response times have improved dramatically. Simitian has now asked for EMS to outline long-term solutions too.

“At El Camino Health’s hospitals we see patients in our emergency rooms every day. We rely on having a robust emergency medical system with well-trained paramedics to deliver patients at the moment they need care the most. We are glad the County is placing the importance of ambulance response times front and center,” said El Camino Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mark Adams.

In late February, the County’s EMS Agency met with Foothill College and the National College of Technical Institutions to discuss ways to expedite training, including doubling the capacity of the paramedic program. However, to complete their training, students need clinical care internships in hospitals, and there aren’t enough internships to go around. EMS will work with Santa Clara County hospitals to increase the number of internships.

"We are excited to announce we are working on an expansion of EMT and paramedic training opportunities at our Foothill College Sunnyvale Campus, providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary to save lives and make a difference,” said Foothill-De Anza School District Board President Patrick Ahrens.

“This is not a new challenge,” remembered Simitian. “Back in 2013 the City of San Jose Fire Department missed the contractual standard of 90% response rates every single month of year. We pushed them hard to improve. And they did. Now again we’re going to keep pushing for better and better service, and that means addressing problems head on.”

Learn more about paramedic training opportunities at Foothill College.