REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
AND RECORD OF ACTION
January 5, 2021
FROM
LEONARD X. HERNANDEZ, Chief Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
DAN MUNSEY, Fire Chief/Fire Warden, San Bernardino County Fire Protection District
SUBJECT
Title
Transfer of Ambulances Acquired with CARES Act Funding
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Acting as the governing body of the County of San Bernardino (County), authorize the Chief Executive Officer to approve and execute all documents that transfer the legal title of County-purchased ambulances, a transport vehicle, supplies and equipment identified in Attachment A to the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District for use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Acting as the governing body of the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District (SBCFPD), accept County-purchased ambulances, a transport vehicle, supplies and equipment identified in Attachment A for use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Presenter: Leonard X. Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer, 387-5417)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). To enhance the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this item requests authorization for the transfer of vehicles, equipment, and supplies to the SBCFPD. The vehicles, equipment, and supplies identified for transfer (Attachment A) were previously purchased by the County with CARES Act funds at an aggregate cost of $2.3 million.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The COVID-19 virus originated in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and began spreading, initially within China and then to other countries. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak to be a “public health emergency of international concern”. This was followed on January 31, 2020 by the United States Human Services Secretary declaring a public health emergency. Cases internationally, within the US and within California (as evidenced by the Governor’s Proclamation) continue to rise.
On March 4, 2020, the State of California declared a state of emergency as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak due to the rising number of confirmed cases and anticipated complications for those infected, including potential deaths. On March 10, 2020, the County Public Health Officer declared a local health emergency to help ensure county government and the public were prepared for the possibility that COVID-19 will appear within the County. On March 10, 2020 (Item No. 75), the Board of Supervisors (Board) proclaimed the existence of a local emergency within San Bernardino County resulting from COVID-19, which causes infectious disease resulting in symptoms of fever, coughing and shortness of breath with outcomes ranging from mild to severe illness and in some cases, death.
With the current COVID-19 resurgence, the County and SBCFPD identified the need for additional staffing, equipment, ambulances, and a transport vehicle to be placed in service to meet the increased call volume and to lessen the 9-1-1 transportation impacts of emergency department COVID-19 related Ambulance Patient Offloading Delay (APOD). The County procured the additional ambulances, equipment, supplies, and transport vehicle using CARES Act funds. These purchases allow for outfitting additional ambulances to help mitigate the surging numbers of COVID-19 patients that are impacting the prehospital medical system throughout the County.
Because time is of the essence and emergency conditions exist, it is recommended that the Board authorize the Chief Executive Officer to approve and execute all documents that transfer County-purchased ambulances, supplies and equipment to SBCFPD. It is anticipated that some of these ambulances may need to be loaned to other jurisdictions to meet the increased call volume and/or help mitigate APOD at hospitals within the County of San Bernardino. If required, a separate item requesting the allocation will be brought to the SBCFPD Board of Directors for approval at a future date.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Penny Alexander-Kelley, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455 and Scott Runyan, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on December 29, 2020; Finance (Tom Forster, Administrative Analyst, 387-4635) on December 30, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Matthew Erickson, County Chief Financial Officer, 387-5423) on December 30, 2020.