Fire department reaches accord with American Medical Response

Jace Radke

Wednesday, July 14, 1999 | 12:32 p.m.

The Las Vegas Fire Department and American Medical Response have come to an agreement that both sides hope will make transporting injured valley residents faster and easier.

The agreement, that has been in use on a trial basis since July 1, allows the fire department to respond to all automobile accidents, while AMR will handle all other medical calls.

"Auto accidents contain fuels that might explode, people may be trapped in the wreckage and their may be other possible hazards, such as downed electrical wires," Fire Chief Mario Trevino said.

The fire department has the tools and capabilities to put out fires, and to cut trapped victims out of cars, so it makes sense for department ambulances to handle accidents, department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The auto accidents add up to about 10 percent of the city's emergency calls, which is the number the City Council agreed upon in November when the department got approval to charge for emergency transports.

The department plans to send one engine and one of its 10 ambulances to each injury accident, and AMR ambulances will be used as backup for accidents if needed.

"If we get a situation with more accidents than the fire department can handle we'll be available," AMR spokeswoman Nicole Casey said. "A good example is last weeks floods. There were more than enough accidents to go around, so we stepped in and picked up what the fire department couldn't handle."

On Tuesday the council set the department's transport rates at $400 plus $7.50 a mile for each emergency transport and $350 plus mileage for nonemergency cases. AMR charges 20 percent more than that per call.

The approved fees are identical to those charged by the Henderson Fire Department. The Boulder City Fire Department charges $380 for emergency calls and $255 for nonemergencies, but it has a higher add-on at $9 per mile.

AMR's 90 ambulances will continue to make all emergency transports in North Las Vegas and Clark County, both of which have fire departments that don't make emergency transports.