Ambulance Service

A bill introduced by Assemblywoman Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) would allow Ventura and other cities to continue their city-run ambulance service.

[Nine months ago the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, under threat of lawsuits from private ambulance services, returned paramedic services in the city of Ventura to a private company.]

Service by our Ventura firefighters had cut emergency response time, cut billing costs and added reassurance that an apartment full of seniors could depend on excellent immediate response, and that they would get to the hospital with necessary lifeline procedures.

Now, our ambulances are stacked up in a fire station on Darling Road. What a shame.

We strongly urge the Assembly to pass Ortiz’s bill, AB 2586. Get those vehicles out of waste and into use again.

We, the citizens of Ventura, can write to our congressional representatives and newspapers to plead for a return of our city-run emergency medical service to complete operation.

Let the cities that are so dollar-minded stay with their bonus-backed systems, if that is truly their choice. Ventura fully supports a safe, less expensive and proven method of preserving life. Let’s not be cheated in life’s security that we senior citizens need and deserve.

RUTH E. KINNE

Ventura