Vote to Transform EMS in Alameda County
What’s being voted on?
On June 17, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has an opportunity to transform and dramatically improve EMS by voting for AMR’s contract to ensure all residents have access to the care they need, when and where they need it.
The American Medical Response (AMR) contract will have several significant benefits for Alameda residents, including: response time requirements, Nurse Navigation, clinical care accountability, a union workforce, and the ability to add on other key enhancements such as behavioral health crisis response and care.
In 2024, Alameda County completed a 5-year process, releasing a visionary RFP to transform its EMS system through innovation and clinical excellence. AMR was selected by an independent, highly experienced evaluation committee, who identified the organization as the provider that best met the County’s needs and was able to deliver innovative solutions to address the changing landscape of EMS in Alameda County.
Since then, the County and AMR have collaboratively created a contractthat seeks to promote clinical excellence, advance health care access and foster economic sustainability for the EMS system and the citizens of Alameda County. American Medical Response is pleased to be recommended as the new contractor for 911 Emergency Ambulance Services for the County of Alameda.
Why AMR?
Nurse Navigation:
More appropriate care, more access to care, lower cost
- Over 26% of 911 EMS calls don’t need an immediate EMS response. The callers need help, but not necessarily an ambulance or trip to the Emergency Department (ED). Sending an ambulance to callers who don’t need to be cared for in an ED leads to unnecessary cost for them and diverts EMS resources from callers who need immediate care.
- Across the country, AMR’s Nurse Navigators use evidence-based clinical protocols to screen a caller’s condition and provide an appropriate resource, whether that’s dispatching a ride-share to urgent care, an appointment at a Federally Qualified Health Center, or virtual care with a physician.
- AMR is the only proven provider with experience in similar markets that can bring Nurse Navigation to Alameda County. Since pioneering Nurse Navigation in 2018, we have answered more than 225,000 911 calls, making ours the largest and most established program in the U.S. Learn more about AMR’s 911 Nurse Navigation here.
Clinical care:
National expertise plus local knowledge
- AMR Clinical Practices, led by physicians, nurses, paramedics and data scientists, supports the caregivers who build and operate the patient-care systems in our communities.
- We believe in a Just Culture™ to develop an accountable approach to patient care by honestly evaluating our performance and outcomes.
- AMR’s Clinical Quality Management Plan (CQMP) uses evidence-based methods to identify quality indicators and provide education and tools for local clinical leadership to assess the care we provide.
- Our CQMP is a hybrid plan with both nationwide metrics and a locally-driven approach determined by local clinical leadership and medical directors.
Behavioral Health:
Dignified care and support
- AMR has significant experience in other states and California jurisdictions implementing models that support law enforcement, county mental health, and social services team responses to patients experiencing mental health crises. We will leverage this expertise as we serve as the sole provider responding to and transporting individuals in mental health crises.
- AMR can also provide behavioral health training for EMS clinicians featuring enhanced training regarding assessment of behavioral health and de-escalation and preserve the Community Assessment and Transport Team (CATT).
- For over 10 years, AMR has operated specially-designed behavioral health units throughout the country. Under our contract, we can provide the same support in Alameda County if requested by the EMS agency through a separate MOU.
Union partners:
Proud partnerships across the region
- In the Pacific region of Global Medical Response alone, AMR and its affiliated organizations work with 7 labor organizations and 4 employee associations representing over 8,000 employees.
- We are proud of our track record of working with union partners and will embrace the existing workforce and fire service stakeholders during the transition and implementation process.
Could AMR partner with Fire instead?
- Yes, we believe the fire departments we work with are our partners, and we rely on their services as a key part of the EMS system.
- We have several ideas on how we can build a stronger, more resilient partnership with the Alameda County fire departments and plan on doing that during this contract cycle.
What about an open system?
- Moving from a well-regulated system with strict accountability to an “open system” with no accountability is very risky in Alameda County.
- An open system does not allow for monitoring compliance, as it requires little or no oversight and lacks transparency.
- It also allows EMS providers to choose their service areas, which often leads to greater inequity of care. Those areas most in need, like the City of Oakland, would attract fewer providers. This could lead to a county-wide collapse of the EMS system, with severe impacts on Oakland.
- Moving to an open system now would also mean that Alameda County loses access to the key innovations provided by AMR like 911 Nurse Navigation and clinical performance measures.