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NCFPD approves medical standby service with Mercy Medical Transport

The North County Fire Protection District approved a resolution which authorizes Mercy Medical Transport, Inc., to provide limited ambulance service within the fire district’s exclusive operating area.

The NCFPD board voted 5-0 Feb. 25 to allow Mercy Medical Transport to provide standby advanced life support services at the San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center.

“We are not in a position to provide that service to the track,” said NCFPD fire chief Bill Metcalf. “We’re glad to have someone else provide that service.”

The County of San Diego has granted the North County Fire Protection District an “exclusive operating area” for advanced life support transport services within the district boundaries. The district has the authority to enter into a contract with a private provider and has done so in the past. Prior to the agreement with Mercy Medical Transport, the fire district’s most recent such allowance was in 2006 when authority was given for 2 The Rescue, Inc., to serve the Los Willows Resort.

The San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center closed for renovation in June but reopened in January. “They are expecting a significant increase in the amount of horse training going on,” Metcalf said.

The training center has 495 stalls, and plans exist for an additional 300 stalls once permitting is complete. Training activities, workouts, and farrier services are also conducted on the facility.

The activities of the facility necessitate on-site paramedic presence. “That was not going to be a service that we were going to be in a position to be able to provide,” Metcalf said.

Although an ambulance with advanced life support capability and staffed by two paramedics would be based at San Luis Rey Downs, Mercy Medical Transport, Inc., will contact NCFPD for any needed patient transportation to hospitals, thus allowing the Mercy Medical Transport ambulance to remain at the training center.

 

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