Fire officials in SB County raise concerns about ambulance response times

"You'll hear it over the radio. If you listen, you'll hear level zero. What level zero means is that there are no ambulances available in the system. And that happens on a frequent basis." - says City Fire Department Chief Chris Mailes.

According to data provided by Santa Barbara County Fire, over the last three years, ambulance response times by the Colorado-based company AMR are below the compliance level of 90 percent…which councilmember James Kyriaco of Goleta says is not acceptable.

"82% was a B average, and Goleta residents deserve better than a B level. Ambulatory response times." - says Kyriaco.

Last year, county supervisors approved a multi-provider ambulance transport system, created by county fire, and 35 ambulances were purchased…but due to legal action by AMR in March of 2024, everything has been put on pause according to County Fire Chief Hartwig.

"So, even if we wanted to use the ambulances that we've already purchased, those can't be in use because of the lawsuit?" - asks Juliet Lemar, KSBY news reporter.

"That's right. Yeah." - Hartwig

"You have these ambulances in storage that could increase response times. How does that make you feel as someone who's on the front lines?" - Lemar

"Yeah, that’s frustrating….all we know is we're standing down until presumably we have a court date or there's a settlement." - Hartwig

I reached out to AMR for comment late Tuesday afternoon and received this statement:

"AMR does not comment on pending litigation. However, we can share that we are confident in our contractual response time compliance and are proud of our years of strong service to Santa Barbara County."

The lawsuit filed by AMR alleges the County of Santa Barbara worked with the Santa Barbara County Fire District to ensure County Fire would replace AMR.