Sonoma County Municipal Code Art. III Communications and Dispatch

(a) EMS Dispatch Responsibility. Unless section 28-12 applies, EMS Dispatch shall be responsible for overall coordination of EMS and ambulance resources during emergency calls for service. Unless Section 28-12 applies, all ambulance response to emergency calls for service shall be dispatched by the EMS Dispatch center.

(Ord. No. 6294, § I, 11-12-2019)

(a) Private service ambulance dispatch centers may dispatch ambulances in Sonoma County if approved by the LEMSA. Such approval must include a requirement that LEMSA-approved system of call triage including a process to refer urgent calls to EMS dispatch is in effect within the parameters required by the LEMSA to ensure patient safety. The LEMSA shall require the ability to audit the dispatch of Sonoma County dispatched ambulances as a condition of permitting. Ambulance dispatch centers other than EMS dispatch are not authorized to receive calls from PSAPs.

(Ord. No. 6294, § I, 11-12-2019)

(a) Ambulances operated by cities, special districts or the county within the county EMS area may utilize their own dispatch systems in coordination with EMS dispatch.

(Ord. No. 6294, § I, 11-12-2019)

(a) All emergency calls shall be processed by an electronic medical triage system utilizing standards for call processing and pre-arrival instructions approved by the LEMSA under the medical control of the local EMS agency medical director.

(b) All requests for emergency medical services shall result at minimum, in the dispatch of an ambulance or other appropriate resources as determined by LEMSA-approved call-triaging algorithm.

(c) Local government entities (cities, special districts and the county) providing emergency response services shall determine the response patterns for their jurisdiction to fulfil, and in some cases exceed, the minimum standard.

(d) Authorized dispatch center(s) shall dispatch response units of local jurisdictions in accordance with the direction of that jurisdiction to meet or exceed minimum standards.

(e) Medical dispatch policies affecting a public safety jurisdiction shall be reviewed by the dispatch steering committee to include representation from impacted jurisdictions, and approved by the LEMSA medical director. General dispatch policies affecting ambulance services shall be reviewed by the EMS agency and any impacted public safety agency, and approved by the governing body of EMS dispatch.

(1) Public safety agencies may delegate policy review authority under this section to a joint powers authority or other entity.

(Ord. No. 6294, § I, 11-12-2019)