LA County Fire Department Seeks Additional Funds for Specialty EMS Program

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion Tuesday seeking $7 million in stopgap funding for specialty emergency response vehicles used by the county fire department to answer simple medical interventions.

Advanced Provider Response Units are staffed with a firefighter or paramedic from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, along with a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, and respond to “low acuity EMS calls,” according to Tuesday’s motion by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn.

The department is seeking the funds to continue and expand services, with funding from American Rescue Plan Act set to be exhausted by the end of March 2025.

Officials said finding a funding source until then is crucial, given that EMS calls are skyrocketing amid the fire emergencies in the county. The board directed the fire department, the county CEO and the departments of Health Services, Mental Health and Public Health to find sources for ongoing funding or one-time bridge funding and report back in 30 days.

“Given the impending end of current funding, the consideration for a one-time funding gap should look at opioid settlement funds, among other sources of funding, given the intersection of the APRU program and substance use health emergencies,” the motion read.

The motion states that the recently passed Measure E, a parcel tax ballot initiative to raise funds for the LACoFD, is expected to generate about $152 million annually, which can support the APRU program from 2026.

Launched in 2019 with a single unit, the APRU program has provided high quality patient care reducing preventable ambulance transports and emergency department visits, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, the motion added.

The motion also stressed the program’s support to lower-income communities.

“Since the inception APRUs have responded to more than 23,000 EMS calls and diverted more than 8,700 patients from avoidable EMS transports and ED visits,” the motion states.

In 2025, EMS calls are expected to exceed 375,000, and 2023 was the busiest year for ED visits in California history, officials said.