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Extraído del Informe Consolidado

Esta investigación fue publicada originalmente como parte de un informe consolidado más amplio que contiene múltiples investigaciones. Consulte el PDF consolidado para ver el documento completo.

San Bernardino County Grand Jury • 2005-2006

Community Development & Housing

7 pages
View PDF View Full Original

Findings 11 findings

F1 Page 29
San Bernardino County has a reputation that its top officials accept contributions from people it does business with, and grants favors in return.
F2 Page 29
Mercy Air Ambulance’s parent company donates to members of the Board of Supervisors.
F3 Page 29
June of 2005 the proposal of permitting CCAA to be a provider of air ambulance service, in addition to Mercy Air, was placed on the Boards’ calendar.
F4 Page 29
June 13, 2005, Mercy Air contributed $1,000 to the Chairman of the Board.
F5 Page 29
Eight days later, on June 21, 2005, the item was continued until July 12, 2005.
F6 Page 29
July 12, 2005, the Chairman pulled the item from the Consent Calendar.
F7 Page 29
November 15, 2005, the Grand Jury released its Interim Report criticizing the Boards’ actions.
F8 Page 29
Board of Supervisors then requests “an objective view” of the proposal from someone not involved; a Deputy County Administrative Officer.
F9 Page 29
November 21, 2005, the report from the Administrative Officer was returned to the Board of Supervisors. This “study” was accomplished by reviewing ICEMA’s original recommendation and analysis, and no new data was obtained. The study recommended that ICEMA reconsider several issues and resubmit the proposal to the Emergency Medical Care Committee (EMCC) for another vote. 2005-2006 San Bernardino County Grand Jury Final Report 20
F10 Page 30
January of 2006, ICEMA did reconsider these issues as outlined in the November recommendations from the Administrative Officer and, once again, presented it to the EMCC. The vote was again 8-0 in favor of allowing California City Air Ambulance to be permitted.
F11 Page 30
Board of Supervisors’ responded in January of 2006 to the Grand Jury report, stating it is “inaccurate, offensive, and the reported risk to the public’s safety is erroneous”. However, the Town of Apple Valley has subsequently requested ICEMA to undertake a study to evaluate automatic air ambulance dispatching to improve air ambulance response. Apparently, Apple Valley did not feel the stated issues were “erroneous”. The delay since this issue initially surfaced has taken its toll. California City Air Ambulance has apparently been discouraged from becoming a competitive asset to the County. The Fire Chief in California City, who established their air ambulance service, has since accepted another position. The helicopter has been placed out of service for major equipment upgrades, and we have now been informed CCAA will no longer pursue the “permitting” process in San Bernardino County. In a letter from the State Director of Emergency Medical Services Authority, the State has concluded that, in spite of allowing Mercy Air an exclusively “permitted” air ambulance contract, San Bernardino County has never applied at the State level for approval of an Exclusive Operating Area (EOA). If nothing changes, the County is subject to anti-trust litigation. This applies not only to the County, but the local EMS agency (ICEMA) as well, in spite of their recommendation to the Board. Such exposure to litigation is totally unnecessary. Any successful litigation would drain precious funds from critically needed projects. Lack of competition has also taken its toll. There are a total of 18 helicopter “calling zones” within San Bernardino County. Of these, Mercy Air is first on the list to be called in 15 of these zones, with our County Sheriff’s rescue copter being listed first in two other zones. The one remaining zone, on the Arizona border, is protected with resources from Mercy Air in Nevada, and Native and Guardian Air from Arizona who, like California City, are mutual aid non-permitted providers.

Recommendations 4