San Jose firefighters could soon be taking on a lot more responsibility: transporting patients to the hospital.
Mayor Sam Liccardo said the private ambulance service contracted by the city has slow 911-response times and is in shaky financial status.
Since firefighters are first on the scene in an emergency, having them transport patients would drastically cut the response time, officials said.
Under the plan, firefighters would transport patients in smaller vehicles as opposed to a fire truck.
"Many cities have found that there are efficiencies in consolidating these efforts," Liccardo said. "They can better respond to emergencies and save money."
The San Jose firefighters union is not happy with the proposal and released the following statement Monday:
"In 2010, San Jose gutted the fire department's capability to meet our emergency medical response times by closing Fire Engines 30, 33, 34, 35, Truck 30, the Hazardous Incident Team and removing fire fighters from 10 truck companies, it makes little sense for San Jose to jump into the ambulance business before restoring these cuts and improving our response times."
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If approved, the plan would not go into effect until next year.
