Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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who decided the ASA borders and what percentage of the calls were social and behavioral issues that could be better served by other responders. Chief Murphy said the BCC determined the ASA borders. Chief Groves added although coding issues made it difficult to make a precise assessment, the number of responses for social and behavioral issues was increasing as there were more people on the streets and down on their luck. As the social service systems in the country and the community continued to crumble, the problem was getting worse. The social and behavior issue calls were frequently given to CAHOOTS. It was not productive use of the EMS system, including the hospitals, to take social and behavioral patients to the ER. EMS personnel attempted to direct people to other sources of help including Buckley House. Chief Murphy stated that over 25 percent of the time when called out, his agency did not do transports. The system responded in good faith to 9-1-1 calls where initial triage occurred with final triage occurring at the scene. Chief Groves said a challenge for 9-1-1 was that they could only deal with the information they were given, which often was very little, and people in the field were good with triage. Councilor Ortiz thanked everyone for attending yet another evening meeting. She asked the BCC to place the ASA on a future agenda for reevaluation. She did not support a fee for 9-1-1 calls that did not result in transport noting that people often waited for a long time before calling. Based on her professional experience in hospital emergency rooms, sick people who should have called 9-1-1 drove themselves when they should not have. She emphasized the need to continue to lobby the Congressional delegation for higher Medicare reimbursement. She observed Springfield had a lower population than Eugene while it had the same number of medic units. Mr. Grey said Springfield’s ambulance capacity fit the city’s needs. Councilor Ortiz asked if Lane Rural Fire/Rescue District had the capacity to infill the areas between the UGB and designated service areas. Chief Borland responded although the district did not currently have the staffing to provide the service it could review the issue for future implementation. Councilor Ortiz appreciated the comments from the IAFF representatives and supported continuing to provide adequate EMS to the community. She agreed ambulance transport service was a core service. The voters in Eugene expected a high quality of service and as an elected official she would do her best to ensure it continued. Commissioner Stewart appreciated this conversation. He said some of the small rural districts he represented struggled with the same issues brought forward tonight. He asked if it was possible to look at the issue as a Lane County issue rather than focusing on the three districts represented tonight. He asked if a countywide ambulance district would be the answer for everyone’s problems. Based on the finance information presented he thought a $1.28 per thousand assessed property value might be a viable figure to provide ambulance service countywide for $32 million. He asserted ambulance service was a core service. Increasing response times to balance the budget was not acceptable when every minute counted. Dimi- nished service would impact life and death. MINUTES—Joint Elected Officials— January 27, 2009 Page 9 Lane Board of County Commissioners, Lane Rural Fire/Rescue Board of Directors and Eu- gene and Springfield City Councils