City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: OCTOBER 20, 2026 FROM: FIRE DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL SUBJECT: ADDENDUM TO THE AGREEMENT WITH AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE AMBULANCE SERVICE, INC., CLARIFYING RESPONSE-TIME PENALTY EXEMPTIONS, TIMESTAMP CORRECTIONS, AND RESPONSE TIME CALCULATIONS ISSUE:
Consider approving an Addendum to the Agreement with American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. for ALS First Responder and Ambulance Services to clarify response-time penalty exemptions, timestamp corrections, and response-time calculations.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
1. Approve the Addendum to the Agreement with American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. for ALS First Responder and Ambulance Services; and
2. Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the Addendum, including making minor and non-substantive changes.
BACKGROUND:
The City regulates ambulance transportation services pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.66 and has historically exercised local authority over the manner and scope of ambulance services provided within the City. California Health and Safety Code Section 1797.201 preserves the authority of cities that administered prehospital emergency medical services prior to June 1, 1980, to continue administering those services.
The City and American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. (AMR) are parties to an Agreement for ALS First Responder and Ambulance Services dated July 16, 2024. The Agreement establishes ambulance response-time standards, as outlined in Riverside Municipal Code Chapter 5.66.150, and provides for monetary penalties when AMR does not meet the applicable standards.
During administration of the Agreement, the City and AMR identified a need to more clearly define the limited circumstances that may qualify for relief from a response-time penalty, the evidence and submission deadlines required for exemption and timestamp-correction requests, and the methods used to calculate response time.
DISCUSSION:
The proposed Addendum establishes defined response-time penalty exemptions for railroad crossing delays, extraordinary and unforeseen traffic delays, unanticipated road closures or construction, severe weather, and additional ambulance units specifically requested by the Riverside Fire Department (RFD). Ambulance Patient Offload Delay (APOD) is expressly excluded as grounds for an exemption.
AMR must submit each exemption request, together with supporting data and documentation, within fifteen (15) calendar days after the end of the month in which the incident occurred. RFD will review requests through the FirstWatch Online Compliance Utility and may approve or deny each request based on the documentation and Addendum/Agreement requirements.
The Addendum also permits correction of a missing or inaccurate response-time timestamp when AMR submits verifiable evidence within the same fifteen-day period.
Upon execution of the Addendum, response-time compliance will be calculated using the applicable CAD clock-start and clock-stop timestamps. No pager queue adjustment, deduction, or credit will be applied to the recorded response-time interval.
The Agreement and its Exhibits will remain controlling unless expressly amended by the Riverside City Council. A current or future County EMS Agency standard, policy, procedure, methodology, or directive will not automatically alter the City's contractual response-time requirements or calculations.
Approval of the Addendum will provide a consistent, documented, and auditable process for administering response-time compliance and related penalties.
Purchasing Overview
This addendum is pursuant to Purchasing Resolution 24421, Section 1104 “Change Orders. (b) Permitted Uses. Subject to the availability of funds, Change Orders may be utilized for the purposes of…(3) modifying scope of work/services being provided, where the modification is reasonably related to the original scope of work/services.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended action is compliant with Purchasing Resolution 24421.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact resulting from the addendum. The Addendum clarifies the administration of response-time penalties under the existing Agreement. The actual fiscal effect, if any, will depend on AMR's future response-time performance and the City's approval or denial of properly documented exemption and timestamp-correction requests.
Prepared by: Chuck Tasker, Division Chief - EMS
Approved by: Steve McKinster, Fire Chief
Certified as to
availability of funds: Julie Nemes, Finance Director
Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer Approved as to form: James Johnson, City Attorney
Attachments:
Agreement - 23-1895.1 AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE Executed AMR Addendum City Terms 20260917
AMR Agreement Addendum 2026h Page 5