Setting the Record Straight: AMR’s Service Reality in Santa Barbara County

As president of the Lompoc Firefighters Association and an active engine company fire captain who responds to emergencies daily, I feel compelled to correct the numerous inaccuracies in the opinion piece “The AMR Contract Is a Fair One.” While the writer, retired deputy sheriff Jon Simon, is entitled to his opinions, his claims demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of our emergency medical services system and ignore documented realities that impact patient care daily.

Let’s begin with the egregious claim that AMR has “never been out of compliance with response time requirements.” This statement would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Just a few days ago, on February 16, AMR had zero ambulances available in Lompoc. Zero. A shooting victim waited while Santa Barbara County Fire had to send its rescue ambulance from miles away. That patient died. Where was AMR’s vaunted “compliance” then?

But let’s dig deeper into AMR’s supposed perfect record. The contract reveals how this illusion of compliance is manufactured. Hidden in the contract is a laundry list of “exemption categories” that AMR can claim to avoid penalties. Failed to position ambulances properly? Claim a “dispatch error.” Ambulance broke down because 75 percent of your fleet has over 125,000 miles on it? That’s another exemption. The smoke and mirrors would be impressive if people’s lives weren’t at stake.

The assertion that AMR arrives “well ahead of time” is pure fantasy, unsupported by any data. In Lompoc alone, it’s impossible for AMR’s ambulance station, positioned in the north city, to beat the fire engine station in the south of the city. But what’s more telling is the fundamental misunderstanding of our EMS system’s structure. The writer mocks our “panic” about AMR’s delays, suggesting we lack confidence in our own medical capabilities. Here’s an EMS 101 lesson: Lompoc, Santa Maria, and Santa Barbara fire engines provide Basic Life Support (BLS). We rely on AMR for Advanced Life Support (ALS) because that’s how the system was designed. When AMR is late, patients wait for advanced interventions that only paramedics can provide — interventions that can mean the difference between life and death.

The comments about “dedicated night crews” actively posted on the streets show a complete ignorance of AMR’s “system status management” model. This is corporate-speak for intentionally understaffing areas and floating ambulances between coverage zones to cut costs. Meanwhile, our fire departments maintain more than 30 strategically located stations, staffed 24/7, providing consistent coverage regardless of call volume or time of day.

Let’s talk about the suggestion to abandon 24-hour shifts in favor of, I guess, 10- or 12-hour shifts, which reveals a stunning unfamiliarity of municipal finance and staffing models. Such a change would require cities to fund a fourth or even fifth shift of firefighters — a massive financial undertaking that would increase personnel costs exponentially. This isn’t about firefighter preferences; it’s basic math and public administration.

The proposed contract’s standard for compliance is a masterclass in corporate sleight-of-hand: AMR only needs to meet requirements one out of every three months before being held in material breach. Imagine if we held any other emergency service to such a low standard.

The reality is blatant: When you call 9-1-1 in Lompoc, you’re entering a system designed to maximize corporate profit rather than patient care. AMR’s “reliability” is a carefully constructed illusion, built on exemptions, loopholes, and the unpaid labor of local fire departments.

This isn’t about interdepartmental rivalry or, as Mr. Simon suggests, firefighters trying to “bypass the competitive bidding process.” This is about whether we want our EMS system run by a corporation that answers to distant shareholders or by local agencies that answer to our communities. This is about whether technical compliance matters more than actual patient outcomes.

I invite the writer to spend a shift with us — to watch patients suffer while waiting for an AMR ambulance, to explain to families why their loved one’s care is delayed, to see firsthand how AMR’s “reliable service” plays out in real emergencies. Until then, perhaps the analysis of emergency medical services is best left to those who actually provide them.