COUNTY HOME EMS DEPT ABOUT US SERVICES CERTIFICATION (EMT-I, EMT-P, MICN, EMD) POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND PROTOCOLS EMS NEWS AND UPDATES EMS FUND STAFF MMRS DOCUMENTS (Password Required) AMBULANCE PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW EXCLUSIVE OPERATING AREAS (EOA) REPORTS EMS LINKS HOSPITAL AND AMBULANCE FIRE AND LAW LINKS

SEARCH CONTACT DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HOME County of Kern Emergency Medical Services county home > emergency medical services > ambulance performance information Ambulance Performance Information Overview This page contains links to PDF files, all of which will open in a new browser window. To view PDF files, Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your PC.  Install Acrobat Reader Local Performance Standards and Requirements There are three separate documents that describe the administrative requirements ambulance providers must satisfy. They are: Kern County Ambulance Ordinance 8.12  (1.4MB PDF) Kern County Ambulance Service Performance Standards  (5.2MB PDF), and A specific performance agreement (contract). Performance Agreement for EOA 1 with Kern Ambulance  (PDF) Performance Agreement for EOA 3 with Delano Ambulance  (PDF) Performance Agreement for EOA 6 with CARE Ambulance  (PDF) Performance Agreement for EOA 7 with Liberty Ambulance  (PDF) Performance Agreement for EOA 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9 with Hall Ambulance  (PDF) Performance Agreement for EOA 11 with Hall Ambulance  (PDF) Exclusive Operating Area Boundaries - Maps The county has been divided into 10 geographic regions. Each region, or Exclusive Operating Area (EOA), has been assigned to one ambulance provider. The ambulance provider is responsible for serving the entire EOA at the minimum standards listed above. In most cases, compliance with the requirements is measured on the aggregate performance within each EOA per month. The maps listed below show the boundary of each EOA, and the maps show the specific response time zone that has been assigned to every square mile within Kern County. List of Exclusive Operating Areas Response Time Requirements Although there are numerous requirements and performance standards in which an ambulance provider is required to satisfy, the most visible and significant standards are response time requirements. Two factors are used to determine the required response time: 1) the Time Zone (location of the incident), and 2) Priority Code (severity of the patient's condition). There are five time zones, as follows - Metro, Urban, Suburban, Rural, and Wilderness. Each square mile in the county is designated as one of these zones. These time zones are generally based on population density, call volume, proximity to fixed ambulance stations, and historical precedence. The Metro time zone requires the fastest response time. Response time requirements become less stringent the further away calls are from a Metro area. There are nine Priority Codes used in Kern County's EMS system. Each code is explained in detail below. The first three Priority Codes are used for pre-hospital emergency calls, e.g. typically calls received through the 911 system for accidents and illnesses that occur along roadways, at workplaces, or at home. Priority Codes 4 through 7 are used for the transfer of a patient from one medical facility to another. The difference between these types of calls and the pre-hospital emergency calls is that a physician or nurse is attending the patient; the calls are usually not as urgent because the patient is already at a medical facility. Priority 1 Life-Threatening Pre-hospital Emergencies - All prehospital life-threatening emergency requests, as determined by the dispatcher in strict accordance with Department authorized EMD protocol. Priority 2 Time-sensitive Pre-hospital Emergencies - All prehospital non-life-threatening emergency requests, including emergency standby requests, as determined by the dispatcher in strict accordance with Department authorized EMD protocol. Priority 3 Urgent Pre-hospital - Emergency medical call where ambulance provider takes immediate steps to dispatch a response, as determined by the dispatcher in strict accordance with Department authorized EMD protocol. These include public safety standby requests. Priority 4 Time-sensitive Interfacility Emergencies - medically necessary requests from an acute care hospital for a hot response for an emergency interfacility transfer. Priority 5 Urgent Interfacility - medically necessary requests from an acute care hospital for an emergency interfacility transfer, based on patient acuity/condition. Priority 6 Scheduled Transfer or Long Distance Transfer - All prescheduled patient transfer requests, including long distance transfer requests, as requested by caller. Priority 7 Unscheduled Transfer - All non-emergency patient transfers, as requested by the caller. These may include transfer directly off- the-floor to SNF, home, etc. Priority 8 Special Event Stand-by - paid special event stand-by requests. Priority 9 Miscellaneous - ambulance responses that are requests for service outside Kern County Priority Code Metro Urban Suburban Rural Wilderness 1 8:59 min 15:59 min 25:59 min 50:59 min 75:59 min 2 10:59 min 15:59 min 25:59 min 50:59 min 75:59 min 3 20:59 min 25:59 min 30:59 min 50:59 min 75:59 min 4 15:59 min 25:59 min 30:59 min 50:59 min 75:59 min 5 60:59 min 60:59 min 60:59 min 60:59 min 75:59 min 6 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 7 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 8 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 0:00 min 9 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Last Modified 4/26/2010 Site Maintained by webmaster@co.kern.ca.us Disclaimer Privacy Policy