Press

San Francisco, California – Monday, January 30, 2012

The California Emergency Medical Services Authority Reestablishes Private Emergency Medical Services in San Francisco.

Rob Dudgeon, Deputy Director of San Francisco's Department of Emergency Management, Division of Emergency Services, recently announced the State's decision to reestablish the City & County as an Exclusive Operating Area ("EOA") for the purposes of responding to 9-1-1 calls.

The decision by the State's Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) creates a seven-digit alternative to dialing 9-1-1 for ambulance service in San Francisco.

The decision by the EMSA means that in San Francisco private ambulance service providers holding an Advanced Life Support (ALS) operating permit issued by the EMSA may now respond to private calls and transport patients in emergency as well as non-emergency circumstances.

The EMSA decree also means that the general public, businesses, commercial and private property management companies; hotels, events and sports facilities, as well as hospitals and health care providers and facilities in San Francisco can now select and use an authorized private emergency medical response provider and the provider is no longer required to redirect the emergency call into the 9-1-1 system.

Authorized providers must still adhere strictly to all EMSA Policies and Protocols governing standards of medical care. These standards include mandated emergency response time. Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians are fully licensed and accredited in San Francisco with the same required standards of knowledge, skills, and accountability.

King-American has been providing ambulance services in San Francisco since 1906. In 1974, the company was the first to certify all of its drivers as Paramedics. The company began service as a 9-1-1 EMS responder for the City & County in 1979. Emergency Medical Dispatchers, Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians are on duty and ambulance units are in service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The telephone number is (415) 931-1400.

San Francisco, California – Friday, January 28, 2011

King-American Ambulance Company and Allied Medical Transport have certified as a Local Business Enterprise (LBE) under San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 14B governing local business utilization and non-discrimination in contracts.

The City’s purpose in LBE certification is to promote the utilization and participation of local businesses with respect to City contracts and subcontracts. LBE certification is available only to businesses whose primary place of business is a fixed office in San Francisco at which location the business conducts, on a regular basis, all of the services for which LBE certification is sought. Satellite or regional offices or “job sites” in San Francisco do not qualify. The business must demonstrate that the majority of its principals and employees are based in its San Francisco office.

The San Francisco based company’s certification recognizes and distinguishes the company as San Francisco’s only bona-fide local, privately owned emergency and non-emergency medical transport provider.

City contracts require prime contractors, during the term of the contract, to fulfill certain LBE participation commitments submitted in their bids. In addition to meeting the LBE participation goal, bidders and contractors are required to undertake good faith outreach to select subcontractors that meet these goals.

If you are a prime bidder or contractor on projects and programs receiving City funding, you may be required to satisfy local business subcontracting goals established under the Ordinance. Bids and proposals that do not meet LBE participation goals set under the Ordinance may be rejected as non-responsive.

King-American has been serving the City & County of San Francisco since 1906 and was incorporated in California in 1954 as Allied Medical Services of California, Inc. Allied Medical Transport, its wheelchair van division, began service in 2003. The company serves the professional medical community providing non-emergency and emergency transports, and the general public as a 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Service provider for the City and County. LBE Certification was announced on January 18, 2011 to be effective January 31, 2011. Visit www.kingamerican.com for more information about the company.

For more information regarding San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 14B also known as the Local Business Enterprise and Non-Discrimination in Contracting Ordinance and a directory of City certified firms visit www.sf-hrc.org and click on LBE Certification and Compliance.

CONTACT:
John Legaspi
(415) 931-3000 ext. 114
john@kingamerican.com

San Francisco, California – January 1, 2009

San Francisco Department of Public Health records report 9-1-1 Paramedic response times for King-American Ambulance Company within the 90 percentile benchmark meeting and often exceeding mandatory state and local paramedic response time standards.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health reports King-American Ambulance Company’s 9-1-1 Paramedic response times rank above the 90 percentile mark in mandatory state and local EMS response time standards.

Founded in San Francisco in 1906, King-American Ambulance Company serves the professional medical community and the general public.  In addition to participating in the 9-1-1 system, King-American answers private calls for ambulance service and is a Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Life Support (ALS), and Critical Care Transport Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provider authorized by the City & County of San Francisco.

King-American Paramedic crews and ambulance units are dispatched via the city’s 9-1-1 emergency response system and are on call 24 hours a day serving thousands of San Francisco residents, medical providers, hospitals, and visitors annually, fulfilling a vital role in response to 9-1-1 emergency calls in cooperation with the Department of Public Health and is licensed by the San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Agency.

According to Josh Nultemeier, Assistant Chief-Paramedic and Operations Manager for King-American Ambulance “The Company is proud of its 103 year history, record of service, and the excellent performance standards and dedication of its teams of Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians and Dispatchers.”



Excerpt Reprinted from The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO, June 27, 2008
The pilot program of paramedics at the Embarcadero BART station reduced train delays by 68 percent in the last year.
By Will Reisman, The Examiner

Photo by Mike Koozmin

A woman’s decision to lie down on the train tracks at the Montgomery Street BART station ended without any serious injuries. But the ensuing one-hour train delay brought to light a pressing need for the transit agency: on-site medical assistance.  BART was forced to call on the Fire Department to extricate the woman, resulting in cascading delays that affected the entire system.

With Wednesday’s events as a backdrop, BART’s board of directors elected to approve a three-year contract with King-American Ambulance Co., allowing for paramedics to be deployed at the Embarcadero station during the morning and evening rush hours.

The on-site paramedics will play a crucial role in relieving congestion, especially at the Embarcadero station, where four of BART’s lines converge, spokesman Linton Johnson said.  BART has positioned emergency medical workers at the Embarcadero station for the past year as part of a pilot project.  The experiment has yielded positive results.  From October 2006 to May 2007, BART riders experienced 62 train delays as a result of medical emergencies. That number dropped to 20 — a 68 percent reduction — within the same time span one year later, after the arrival of paramedics to the Embarcadero station. As a result, 200,000 passengers made it to their destination on time, BART officials said.  With an ambulance stationed aboveground at Market Street, the onsite paramedics would be able to quickly respond to emergencies at BART’s downtown stations, according to Johnson. Their familiarity with the BART system allows them to move injured passengers safely and with great efficiency, he added.

“In the past we’d have to make a call out to an outside firefighter or paramedic and you’d wait and wait and wait,” Johnson said. 

According to Johnson, New York City is the only other major transit system in the United States with on-site medical emergency technicians.