09-17RESOLUTION NO. 09-17
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CLEARWATER RECOMMENDING THAT THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS DELAY ACTION ON
PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS ESTABLISHING LEVELS OF
SERVICE AND CRITERIA FOR THE DETERMINATION OF
REASONABLE AND CUSTOMARY COSTS FOR
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS; IF ACTION
IS NOT DELAYED, OPPOSING THE PROPOSED
RESOLUTIONS AND REQUESTING FUNDING TO REMAIN
AT PRESENT LEVELS; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS, Chapter 80-585, Laws of Florida, created a countywide Emergency
Medical Services Authority ("Authority") whose governing body and membership is
comprised of the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners ("Board") and provided
for a special election to create the emergency services special taxing district by countywide
referendum; and
. WHEREAS, the electorate approved the creation of the emergency medical services
taxing district, which allowed for all real property within the taxing district to be subject to an
ad valorem tax sufficient to pay the cost of providing emergency medical services ("EMS"),
not to exceed a maximum of 1.5 mills; and
WHEREAS, the 2008 millage rate for EMS in Pinellas County was .5832 mills; and
WHEREAS, the City of Clearwater ("City") was and continues to be a first responder,
providing both basic life support and advance life support ("ALS"); and
WHEREAS, Chapter 80-585, Laws of Florida, provided that full reimbursement shall
be made by the Authority to the City as an EMS provider for the reasonable and customary
costs of said services; and
WHEREAS, the Board has proposed two resolutions establishing the levels of
service for EMS providers and the criteria for the determination of reasonable and
customary costs; and
WHEREAS, the Board stated in the proposed resolution the following: "That while
there is no specific legal standard for response times for ALS first responders, by
agreement, the providers in Pinellas County have agreed to a response standard for
emergencies where an ALS first responder will be on scene within 7 minutes and 30
seconds in 90 percent of their dispatch by emergency operators at the 911 center. This
results in an average response time below this figure. Despite some variability among
districts, the county-wide system response time currently exceeds this standard which the
Authority finds is the result of excess response capacity in the system"; and
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WHEREAS, although the proposed standard of requiring an ALS first responder to
arrive on the scene of a medical emergency within 7 minutes and 30 seconds from the time
that the ALS first responder receives notification of the call from the 911 emergency
operators in 90 percent or greater of the dispatched calls is consistent with nationally
recognized standards for the arrival of an ALS unit, the standard fails to account for the
nationally recognized standards on having at least a basic, first-responder unit on the scene
involving a patient in cardiac arrest, for example, within 5 minutes from the time that the first
responder receives notification of the call from the 911 emergency operators in 90 percent
or greater of the dispatched calls; and
WHEREAS, the American Heart Association standard in existence on January 1,
1989, regarding the treatment of patients in cardiac arrest, indicated that the survival rate of
a patient undergoing ventricular fibrillation is severely diminished unless a first responder
provides CPR or defibrillation within 6 minutes of the patient's undergoing an attack; and
WHEREAS, the average response time of the City on EMS calls during the month of
January 1989 was approximately 4 minutes 52 seconds from the time that the City received
notification of the call from the 911 emergency operator to the time that a first-responder
unit arrived on the scene of a medical emergency; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 89-424, Laws of Florida provided that in addition to determining
the reasonable and customary costs for EMS providers, the Authority had the power to
establish the level of service and that the level of service could not be lower than the level of
service as of January 1, 1989, without the consent of the EMS provider; and
WHEREAS, the City currently and in the more recent past has provided a first-
responder unit on the scene of a medical emergency within approximately 5 minutes 30
seconds from the time that the City receives notification of the call from the 911 emergency
operators in approximately 90 percent of the dispatched calls; and
WHEREAS, the Authority provided the City from 1997-2007 with a monthly
reimbursement incentive for responding to prioritized emergency calls within 5 minutes from
the time that the City received notification of the call from the 911 emergency operators 90
percent of the time or greater; and
WHEREAS, the Authority has provided the City in the current contract with a monthly
reimbursement incentive for responding to prioritized emergency calls within 5 minutes 30
seconds from the time that the City receives notification of the call from the 911 emergency
operators 90 percent of the time or greater; and
WHEREAS, although the City's current EMS level of response exceeds the
Authority's proposed standard, the City's current response times constitute an appropriate
level of service to ensure the welfare of citizens in need of EMS; and
WHEREAS, the City has been provided limited time to evaluate the impact of the
proposed level of service and the criteria for determining reasonable and customary costs
and needs additional time in order to accomplish a more comprehensive review of the EMS
system and any potential changes; and
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WHEREAS, the Pinellas County EMS Advisory Council met on March 18, 2009, and
voted to recommend to the Board that the Board delay action on the two resolutions for 30
days in order for the EMS Advisory Council to have the time to review the resolutions and
provide comments; and
WHEREAS, the City supports the recommendation of the Pinellas County EMS
Advisory Council; and
WHEREAS, the City wants to continue to provide a level of service for both EMS and
fire services that is commensurate with the needs of the citizens of the City of Clearwater
and Pinellas County; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The City Council of the City of Clearwater hereby requests the Board to delay
adoption of both resolutions until a complete evaluation of the proposed changes to the
level of service and the criteria used in determining reasonable and customary costs has
been completed by the Pinellas County EMS Advisory Council and all of the affected
jurisdictions.
Section 2. The City Council of the City of Clearwater further requests that the Board fund
the 2009-2010 contract consistent with the terms of the current contract, which terminates
on September 30, 2013. If the Board declines to delay adoption of the resolutions, this
Council hereby expresses its opposition to the Board's resolutions that propose changes to
the level of service and the criteria used in determining reasonable and customary costs for
EMS providers.
Section 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this -?? day of {p 2009.
Frank V. Hibbard
Mayor
Approved as to form: est:
Robert J. Urette Cyn 'a E. Goudeau
Assistant y Attorney City rk
r
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