September 27, 2019 — Earlier this month, the board of supervisors agreed to develop two tax ordinances for emergency services, which voters will likely decide on in March. One would be a sales tax for ambulance services, and the other would be a transient occupancy tax on private campgrounds to fund rural fire districts.
Today we’ll hear from Davey Beak, a paramedic who manages the ambulance service out of the Mendocino Coast District Hospital in Fort Bragg. Beak and the seven full time and five per diem paramedics who work under him are paid hospital employees who are qualified to provide advance life support. Often, the first people on the scene of a rural medical call are volunteer firefighters, who provide EMT, or basic life support services on the spot before the patient is transported to a hospital.
Beak is also a volunteer fire chief with the Comptche Fire Department, which gives him a keen appreciation for how closely intertwined the firefighting and ambulance systems are. He is a vocal supporter of both proposed taxes, promising that, with more revenue, he could bolster services, particularly by transporting patients to hospitals further down the 101 corridor without drawing down the county’s available services.