9-1-1 Basic Life Support Emergency Ambulance Response, Transportation and Related Services

The County of Orange (County) Health Care Agency (HCA) is seeking proposals from qualified and responsible ambulance service providers to provide 9-1-1 Basic Life Support Emergency Ambulance Response, Transportation and Related Services that will include, but not limited to, Billing/Advanced Life Support (ALS) Reimbursement, Patient Satisfaction Program, Public Education, etc. (referred to hereinafter together as “Services”) within one (1) or more of the Orange County Exclusive Operating Areas (EOAs). The primary goal of the Services will be to provide quality 9-1-1 Basic Life Support Emergency Ambulance medical care and ambulance transportation services to County visitors and residents.

Enacted by the Legislature in 1980, the Emergency Medical Services System and Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act (EMS Act) created a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the provision of pre-hospital emergency medical services for the purpose of achieving statewide coordination and integration of pre-hospital emergency medical services.

The EMS Act accomplishes this integration through a two-tiered system of state and county regulation. At the state level, the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) is responsible for functions relating to the coordination of EMS (Emergency Medical Services) throughout the state. At the county level, a designated local EMS agency (LEMSA) is responsible for the administration of emergency medical services and is required to have a Medical Director, who prescribes the medical management of the EMS system countywide. The designated LEMSA in the County is the Orange County Emergency Medical Services (OCEMS), a division of HCA.

California Health and Safety Code (H&SC) §1797.224 authorizes OCEMS, as the LEMSA for the County, to create EOAs, provided a competitive process is utilized to select providers of services pursuant to a local EMS Plan. EOAs may be changed, adjusted, or redrawn by OCEMS at any time during the period of the contract between the County and selected provider(s). In addition to the aforementioned, the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) must review and approve any proposed EOA changes, adjustments or re-drawings per California Health and Safety Code sections §1797.6, §1797.85, §1797.224. Pursuant to California Government Code §56076, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) is responsible for approving updates to the Spheres of Influence (SOI) for the unincorporated County areas. OCEMS has consulted LAFCO on SOI boundaries to ensure that all unincorporated areas of the County are appropriately incorporated in current EOAs.