Linda, California: When 9-1-1 Isn`t Needed

Jan. 30--There has been a large increase in fire department calls in Linda. It might be because of socio-economic issues -- area residents who lack access to health care are looking to emergency personnel for help. Trouble is, their problems might not warrant emergency services.

"I can't put my finger on the exact reason," said Linda Fire Chief Rich Webb. "But part of a troubling trend we are seeing is that so many people are calling for things that I wouldn't necessarily consider warrant a 9-1-1 call.

"People seem to be using the 9-1-1 system to get transported to the hospital for routine medical treatment."

The tendency would seem to follow a nationwide trend toward more people using emergency rooms for primary health care services. Rideout Memorial Hospital's emergency room has seen a 12 percent to 15 percent increase in recent years.

Now, at least in some areas of Yuba County, the trend may have filtered down to fire personnel.

"The increase doesn't seem to be a result of growth in the district because we continue to run to the same neighborhoods," Webb said.

In Linda, there were 473 more calls in 2015 than the previous year. Medical calls totaled 2,794, an increase of about 10.5 percent from the previous year.

"There is no denying that the socio-economic issue is very much a part of what is going on," Webb said. "We run a very high percentage in the same neighborhoods."

The same trend does not appear to be occurring in all areas of Yuba-Sutter.

Yuba City Fire Department officials weren't available late this week, but Sutter County Fire Chief John Shalowitz said he hasn't seen a similar trend beyond the no mal industry-wide increases in calls. He said Sutter County saw about a 100-call increase in 2015, but much of that was drought-related grass fires, he said.

Likewise, Wheatland Fire Authority Chief Joe Waggershauser said city calls increased from 757 in 2014 to 800 in 2015, but short of the record 824 calls in 2011.

But Wade Harrison, Olivehurst Fire Department chief, said his department had additional calls totaling about 120 from 2014 to 2015, well above what has been an average of 80 additional calls for each of the past five years. About 30 of those stem from "persons in distress" for things like being locked out of the house or needing assistance in shifting from a bed to a chair, he said.

"The biggest increases are in nonemergency calls," Harrison said, though he said he has not seen the socio-economic factors mentioned by Webb.

Marysville Fire Department Chief Dale Vogelsang said the city department had an 11.5 percent increase in calls from 2014 to 2015 after average annual increases of 3 percent to 5 percent over the past 15 years. But he said there hasn't been any analysis done from where exactly the increase is coming.

"I really don't have any indicators," Vogelsang said. "It could be that folks are feeling more comfortable in calling us. It could be that they are using us for primary care.

"I think we are all scratching our heads over this."

Responding to calls that end up not being emergencies can cause problems when other calls occur while personnel are responding. Fire officials said it can result in longer response times to real emergencies.

For departments relying on volunteers, it can increase costs because those volunteers may have to be called out when there are conflicting calls.

"It's frustrating when those guys are committed to a call that ends up being a nonemergency," Webb said. "Once they are committed, they are committed."

Marysville looks at charging fees

While not directly related to an increase in calls, Marysville officials are looking at the idea of charging first-responder fees as a way to provide fire department revenues.

The idea surfaced during City Council budget discussions last year. City Manager Walter Munchhheimer said there will likely be a proposal before the council to establish such a charge before budget talks start this year.

Basically, the city would contract with a company that would charge and collect the fee from those who receive first-responder assistance from the department. Specific fees have not yet been established.

"That would help defray the operational costs," Fire Chief Dale Vogelsang said.

While the newly-formed city department, which took over from CalFire last year, is operating under its 2015-16 budget, it is also facing the expiration of a grant that keeps staffing at three full-time firefighters per shift.

Linda Fire Department Chief Rich Webb said his department has not considered imposing such fees as a way to counter a trend of increased calls that don't turn out to be emergencies. He also acknowledged there could be the effect that people with emergencies might not call because of the fee .

"It's a discussion I really don't want to have, though if this trend continues, I don't know what else we can do," he said.

Copyright 2016 - Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.