After using private ambulance companies for 40 years, Chandler could switch to a city-run program.
Chandler paramedics treat patients and ride in private ambulances staffed by private emergency medical technicians. Fire Chief Tom Dwiggins said high turnover among EMTs makes things harder for city crews.
“If you can imagine, you show up to work, you're a paramedic, you get on the ambulance and you are meeting the driver, the EMT position, for the first time, and you don't know anything about them. You don't know what their capabilities are, you don’t know what their training level is,” he said. “We want to provide the EMTs and take over the service so that we can ensure that our teams are working together, working the same schedules together. They're running calls together, they're training together.”
Dwiggins said Chandler firefighter training exceeds state requirements by 100%.
The proposal he presented to City Council members in August includes hiring 21 emergency medical technicians, six paramedics and three support personnel to support seven ambulances available 24/7.
A feasibility study conducted by the James Vincent Group determined it is operationally and financially feasible for Chandler Fire to provide ambulance service. Start up costs are estimated at $10 million and expected to be recouped through transport fees within five years.
The City Council could vote to buy ambulances as early as this fall. The Fire Department would need to apply to the Arizona Department of Health Services next year and, if approved, Chandler could begin city-run ambulance service January 1, 2027.
