Security Fire Protection District was booted from the Emergency Services Agency last week after it hired a private ambulance company.

It’s the first time a member agency has been expelled since the ESA was established more than a decade ago to oversee an exclusive contract with emergency ambulance provider American Medical Response.

Security Fire officials said they hired Action Care, based in the Denver area, to improve response times.

ESA’s attorney, Jane Fredman, said the ESA board had no choice but to boot the Security district.

That’s because the contract gives AMR a monopoly on emergency ambulance calls in the service area. Until last week, that included Security Fire Protection District’s 44,000 residents.

When Security hired a different company to serve those customers, it essentially barred AMR from operating there.

“If we can’t provide them with the exclusive service area, we could be facing breach of contract,” Fredman said.

AMR has transported roughly 1,600 emergency patients in the Security/Widefield area per year.

At last week’s meeting, Security Fire board member Ken Gianino said that Action Care will respond faster and charge the same amounts as AMR.

“The community wasn’t being served well,” he said.

Fire Chief Ski Stambaugh said that although the district never filed a complaint with ESA, the district has had disputes with AMR.

However, Security Fire officials failed to participate in drafting the new multiyear contract awarded to AMR effective Jan. 1, which contained amended response times for some areas.

Security Fire officials didn’t say why they wanted to remain in ESA. However, the ESA pact entitles participating agencies to have AMR restock medical supplies.

That will no longer happen for Security Fire, and ESA officials will determine what, if any, equipment should be retrieved from the district.

AMR spokesman Ted Sayer said AMR isn’t interested in a mutual-response agreement with Security Fire, but the company stands ready to help the district when called – for a fee of $350 per call to the district, plus normal customer charges, Sayer said.

“We’re confident of our ability to cover the ESA area without their assistance,” Sayer said. “If they call us for service, we’ll go. We would never turn our back. We’ll respond as quickly as we can and provide great service for their customers.”

Fire departments in the Tri-Lakes area, Black Forest and Fountain run their own ambulances and transport patients.

They have mutual-response agreements with AMR for backup, if needed. Other fire departments go on medical calls but don’t transport patients.

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