TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Mario Rueda, Fire Chief
DATE: June 28, 2024
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN LOS
ANGELES COUNTY AND THE CITY OF SAN MARINO FOR
PARAMEDIC SERVICES
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
Safe Community
BACKGROUND
Since 1992, the San Marino Fire Department has participated in an Automatic Aid agreement with Los Angeles County Fire Department along the City’s eastern border. The agreement was developed to assist both fire jurisdictions with additional fire and paramedic resources during major emergency incidents or if simultaneous incidents created gaps in service. The San Marino Fire Department (SMFD) has had an excellent relationship with Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) under this agreement.
In 2017, the Fire Department conducted a review of all of the department’s agreements and concluded that this specific agreement had become unbalanced; SMFD’s Rescue Ambulance was responding into the Los Angeles County jurisdiction at a significantly higher rate and not receiving reciprocal response as in previous years. This imbalance was corrected with the Agreement by and between the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County and the City of San Marino for Paramedic Services, approved at the January 17, 2017, meeting of the San Marino City Council, and effective April 1, 2017. The City of San Marino is the first and only jurisdiction to have Steven W. Huang, DDS, Mayor
Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Vice Mayor
Tony Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
Steve Talt, Council Member
an agreement with Los Angeles County for the reimbursement of paramedic response.
DISCUSSION
In 2023, the San Marino Fire Department again conducted a review of the Department’s agreements with our neighboring jurisdictions. The Department review concluded that the 2017 agreement was not adequately addressing the responses in which San Marino Fire Department resources were canceled by LACFD prior to SMFD arrival on scene. The SMFD was canceled by LACFD resources 52% of the time. In these instances, the 2017 agreement did not adequately provide for reimbursement for these responses.
The 2024 amendment to the Agreement covers all costs of San Marino Fire Department personnel, vehicle mileage, dispatching fees, and any medical equipment used during incident response into LACFD’s jurisdiction, including cancelations prior to the SMFD’s arrival on scene. The amended agreement would not change any other mutual aid response the City of San Marino maintains with our neighboring cities.
The San Marino Municipal Code, Chapter 4, Article 2 codifies the creation of a San Marino Disaster Council for the purpose of developing and recommending for adoption by the City Council, mutual aid plans and agreements and the City’s Emergency Operations Plan. The Disaster Council consists of the Director of Emergency Services (City Manager Eskandar) as the chair; two members of the City Council appointed by the Mayor, Councilmember Talt (primary delegate) and Mayor Huang (alternate delegate); and representatives from the City’s Fire and Police Departments that were appointed by the City Manager, Fire Chief Rueda and Chief of Police Incontro.
The Disaster Council and the Public Safety Commission have reviewed the 2024 amendment to the Agreement and recommended its approval without comment.
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
The amended agreement provides additional and permanent cost recovery revenue of $552 per paramedic incident when San Marino paramedics respond into Los Angeles County Fire Department’s jurisdiction, whether a patient care report is generated or not. Incidents in which the Fire Department’s AutoPulse Resuscitation Device is deployed would be billed at a per incident rate of $1,220. Based on 2023 call volume, revenue is estimated to increase from $35,949 to $76,866 annually. The per incident rate may be adjusted each year to reflect the current rate for the City’s paramedic services.
Original Agreement Per
Incident Rates (as of 2024)
Amended Agreement
Per Incident Rates
Dispatch no Treatment 84.18 552.16
Patient Treatment 454.95 552.16
Cardiac Arrest Incident N/A 1220.92
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Council approve the amended agreement between the City of San Marino and Los Angeles County Fire Department. If the City Council concurs with staff’s recommendation an appropriate motion would be:
”I move to approve Amendment Number One to the Agreement by and Between the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County and the City of San Marino for Paramedic Services and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. Los Angeles County Paramedic Agreement
2. Amendment Number One to the Agreement