PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — The resolution to urge the Multnomah County Chair to temporarily change the required personnel for ambulances to address long response times has failed to pass after contentious debating among Multnomah County Commissioners.
The county has been facing ambulance response time issues with the company under contract, American Medical Response, due to a nationwide shortage of paramedics. AMR has advocated for temporarily allowing ambulances to be operated by one paramedic and one emergency medical technician (called the 1-1 model), a deviation from the current rule of having them be run by two paramedics at a minimum.
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In February, Commissioner Sharon Meieran tried to urgently add a resolution to the agenda championing the temporary 1-1 model after a series of emergencies left patients without ambulances. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson delayed that discussion until Thursday.
Meieran’s resolution urged Vega Pederson to use her authority to direct the Emergency Medical Services Medical Director to temporarily change the ambulance staffing to the 1-1 model. The resolution would have also required the Health Department to closely monitor outcomes.