City, union talks on medical services stall

Chula Vista, firefighters disagree about who should get more pay for advanced skills

If the city manager has his way, Nash said, the situation could be entirely different, with one paramedic and two EMTs trying to do the work that five people used to do.

The money is there to pay the firefighters more, he said, citing the $419 fee hike the city approved for ambulance transportation last September. The new fee for ambulance transportation to a hospital during a medical emergency is $1,314. That fee increase was designed to recover the costs of having city firefighters and AMR respond to calls for medical aid.

Negotiators for both the union and the city say they are optimistic about reaching an agreement before City Manager Sandoval presents an alternate plan to have AMR provide the enhanced services.

Tulloch emphasized that paramedics always respond to emergency medical calls and that will not change, regardless of the outcome of negotiations.


