Emergency Medical Response

Emergency Medical Services, or EMS, is a vital public service that delivers emergency care to victims of sudden and serious illness or injury.

In the Vancouver area, EMS is delivered in a multi-tiered system by firefighter-EMTs and fire medics from the Vancouver Fire Department and paramedics from American Medical Response.

In Vancouver, and throughout the country, EMS calls typically comprise more than 80% of the total emergency calls received by public fire-rescue agencies.

The EMS system depends on the availability and coordination of many different elements, ranging from an informed public capable of recognizing medical emergencies to a network of metro area trauma centers capable of providing highly specialized care to the most seriously ill or injured.

The 911 emergency center, search and rescue teams from the VFD and public support for prehospital care are some of the critical elements necessary for the EMS system to work.

The Vancouver Fire Department’s Paramedic and EMT firefighters are an important part of the EMS system.

Ambulance Services

The City of Vancouver has contracted directly with AMR to provide ambulance service to citizens since 2015.

Goals and objectives

• Maintain or potentially improve emergency medical service.
• Keep patient charges as low as possible.
• Assure equitable distribution of costs and levels of service throughout the county.
• Assure highest accountability for results through direct oversight and governance relationship.

Background

Ambulance services within the City of Vancouver used to be provided through an interlocal agreement with EMS District 2 originally signed in 1993. The service was user-fee supported and AMR was contracted to provide ambulance services.

EMS District 2 encompasses the cities of Vancouver, Battle Ground, La Center, Woodland, and Ridgefield and the unincorporated areas of Clark County.

In 2015, the City of Vancouver began contracting directing with AMR to provide ambulance services to its citizens, instead of through the EMS District 2 interlocal agreement. This change was made for the following reasons:

• The Board of Clark County Commissioners serves as the EMS District 2 Board and has sole final approval authority. The other partner agencies, Including the City of Vancouver, had no direct decision-making authority over the administration of the current EMS contract or the services provided.
• The City of Vancouver has grown significantly over the 20 years that have passed since the EMS District 2 interlocal agreement was first signed. The city’s population generates 74 percent of the ambulance calls, and thus supplies a majority of EMS fees used to pay for the service.
• The needs of City/urban and County/rural areas are different, and the city desires a more direct relationship with the ambulance service to better meet Its urban needs.
• The Vancouver Fire Department (VFD) currently responds to medical calls. Due to the terms of the District’s contract, very little coordination was allowed to occur between the VFD EMS responders, and the ambulance provider, which resulted in duplication of effort.
• By having direct oversight of the ambulance service, the Vancouver Fire Department will be able to develop the “hand in glove· relationship with the ambulance provider to better provide effective and efficient service to citizens.

Current Status

The contract with AMR to provide ambulance services was approved by the Vancouver City Council in November 2014. The contract went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

Read the 2022 Ambulance Services Annual Report to City Council