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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinances - No. 1306ORDINANCE NO. 1306 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LODI REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 756 AND REENACTING A NEW ORDINANCE REGULATING THE USE AND OPERATION OF AMBULANCES UPON THE PUBLIC STREETS WITHIN THE CITY OF LODI. THE CITY OF LODI DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Definitions. (a) The term "ambulance" shall mean any privately-owned vehicle equipped or used for transporting the sick or injured, in need of immediate medical attention, as described in Title 13, California Administrative Cody, Section 1100.2(a) and 1100.2(b). (b) firm, partnership, association, company, corporation, or organization of any kind. The term "person" shall mean any natural person, / (c) firm, partnership, corporation, or other organization which furnished or offers to furnish ambulance service within the City. The term "ambulance operator" shall mean a person, -1- (d) The term "City" means the City of Lodi. (el The term "Finance Director" means the Finance Director of the City of Lodi. (f) The term "Mobile Intensive Care Unit"' shall mean an ambulance to handle emergency calls and perform medical care as prescribed by the San Joaquin County Emergency Medical Services authority. (9) The term "Emergency Medical Technician 1 (A) 'I shall mean a person certified per State guidelines to care for the sick, injured, or disabled. __ I - _. (h) The term "Emergency Medical Technician - Paramedic" shall mean an individual who is a mobile intensive care paramedic educated and trained in all elements of prehospital advanced life support and whose scope of practice to provide advanced life support is in accor- dance with the standards prescribed by the Emergency Medical Services Authority State of California and has a valid certificate. I I. (i) The term "Ambulance Station" shall mean the prem- ises located within a City from which the ambulance or ambulances shall be housed and operated. -2- (1) The term "Emergency Call" shall mean a request for an ambulance to transport or assist persons in apparent sudden need of medical attention; or, in a medical emergency, as determined by a physician, to transport blood, any therapeutic device, accessory to such device, or tissue or organ for transplant. (k) The term "Emergency Service" shall mean the function performed in response to an emergency call. Emergency service also includes transportation of a body for the purpose of making an anatomical gift. Section 2. Permit Required. -. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of operating an ambulance in the City of Lodi without first securing a permit to do so from the Finance Director according to each and every requirement of this ordinance and without complying with each and every regulation contained in this ordinance pertaining to the business of carrying or transporting wounded, injured, or sick persons for hire; provided however, that no permit shall be required of any person who delivers but does not pick up wounded, injured, 0.r sick persons in the City to deliver to a point outside the City. Each permittee and ambulance operator shall employ only those persons who have obtained an ambulance driver's permit -3- issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California. Section 3 - Application for Permit. The ambulance operator upon the filing with the Finance Director of his/her application for ambulance operators permit may obtain the permit required by Section 2 of this ordinance by the payment of a fee to the Finance Director, in an amount to be determined by resolution as adopted from time to time by the City Council. The application shall be signed by the applicant and shall set forth: i -_ - (a) The name, business, and address of the applicant. (b) The name and address of all persons financially interested in the ambulance business. (The term "financially interested" shall include all persons who share in the profits of the business, on the basis of gross or net revenue) (c) The number and type, age, condition, and patient capacity of each ambulance proposed to be operated by the applicant, stating the make and year of the manufac- ture. -4- .- i . -- (d) The fact that such ambulances comply with Vehicle Code Sections 2416 and 2418.5, and Title 13 of the California Administrative Code as well as all other State laws and orders applicable to the licensing of emergency vehicles. (e) The color scheme, insignia, name, monogram, or other distinguishing characteristics to be used to designate the private ambulance or private ambulances of the applicant. (f) The location and description of the place or places from which it is intended to operate and the vehicles are to be stored. - (9) The schedule of rates proposed to be charged for ambulance service. (h) The experience of the applicant in the transporta- tion of wounded, injured, and sick persons. (i) The fact that all operators of ambulance or ambu- lances shall hold ambulance drivers' certificates issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California. -5- Section 4. Investigation of Application, Grounds for Denial or Approval Upon the filing of an application for an owner's permit, the City Manager shall direct the Chief of Police to cause an investigation to be made of said applicant. The Chief of Police shall require the applicant or any person named in the application to be fingerprinted and photographed. The City Manager shall grant or deny the permit within forty (40) days of the date of the filing of the completed application. The City Manager shall deny the permit if the City Manager finds: __ -_ (a) Thatc the applicant or any of the persons financially interested therein has been convicted of a felony and the period of five years has not expired from the date of ! , , termination of the confinement, parole and/or probation; or (b) Said applicant has previously been convicted of one of the following misdemeanor violations and a period of three years has not elapsed from the date of termination of i I confinement, parole and/or probation: / ! 1) Any theft from a person. 2) Any crime involving driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. -6- 3) Any crime involving reckless driving. 4) Any crime involving death andlor injury of another person while driving a vehicle. (C) The applicant does not show financial responsibility. (d) The applicant has not complied with the matters contained in the application. The City Manager shall grant an ambulance operator's permit if it finds the following: proposed to be used comply with all pertinent State laws. (2) That the color scheme, insignia, name, monogram, or other distinguishing Characteristics proposed to be used upon such ambulance or ambulances is not in conflict with and does not imitate any color scheme, insignia, name, monogram or other distinguishing characteristics used by any other person, in such manner as to mislead or tend to mislead, deceive, ok (1) That the vehicles described in the application and defraud the public. (3) That the application is complete and that the applicant will meet the criteria set forth in this ordinance -7- for operating an ambulance business within the City of Lodi. (4) The City Manager may determine the total number of ambulances which may be operated under such permit. Section 5 - Appeal from Denial The action of the City Manager in denying such a permit shall be subject to an appeal to the City Council. Notice of such appeal shall be filed with the City Clerk within ten (10)days after the denial of the permit. Upon failure to file such notice within the ten-day period, the action of the City Manager in denying such permit shall be final and conclusive. ~ Section 6. - Form of Ambulance Operator’s Permit If the City Manager finds that the application is complete and that the applicant meets the criteria set forth in this ordinance for operating an ambulance business within the City of Lodi, a permit to that effect shall be issued by the Finance Director to the person or persons entitled thereto, and the City Manager in its discretion may determine the total number of ambulances which may be operated under such permit’. The permit when issued shall state the name and address of the applicant, the number of ambulances that may be operated under said permit, and the date of issuance thereof. No permit authorized hereunder shall be issued to any person who shall -8- not have fully complied with all the requirements of this ordinance. Section 7. Duration of Ambulance Operator's Permit. Every ambulance operator's permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this part shall continue until revoked, subject to revocation in the manner prescribed in this part. It shall not be transferable except as provided by this Part. Section 8. Business License Required. No ambulance operator shall commence, transact or carry ~ on any business in the City without first having procured a license from the City to do so, or without complying with any and all regulations relating to licenses, contained in Chapter 12 of the Lodi City Code. All licenses shall be issued by the Director of Finance and shall be payable at the office of the Director of Finance. Section 9. Transferability of Ambulance Operator's Permit. . Application for transfer of any ambulance operator's permit shall be subject to the same terms, conditions, and requirements as if the application were for an original permit. -9- Section 10. Amendments to Permits. Any person holding a permit to operate one or more ambulances as provided in this ordinance, who desires to change or amend said permit to substitute a different vehicle, or add another vehicle, for a vehicle operated under' said permit, shall do so only when permit holder has notified the City Manager. Section 11. Ambulance Operator's Permit: Suspension or Revocation. The City Manager may, after ten (10) days written notice to the ambulance operator and after having held a hearing following such notice, suspend or revoke an ambulance operator's permit for any of the following grounds: (a) Any ground upon which it might deny the permit in the first instance; (b) In the event of any violation of any provisions of this Part or any part of this ordinance; / (c) The failure to pay any judgment for damages arising from the operation of the vehicles, or any provision for which such permit was issued; -10- (d) That the requirements of Section - relating to liability insurance requirements are not met or fulfilled. The actions of the City Manager in suspending and revoking said permit shall be subject to an appeal to the City Council. Notice of such appeal shall be filed with the City Clerk within ten (10) days after the suspension or revocation of the permit. Upon failure to file such notice within the ten-day period, the actions of the City Manager in suspending or revoking the permit shall be final and conclusive. Section 12. Type of Service. __ Each operator must provide a minimum of one (1) Mobile Intensive Care Unit staffed and operated per San Joaquin County Emergency Medical Service Authority Guidelines. Section 13. Liability Insurance. No owner's permit shall be issued or continued in operation unless there is in full force and effect during the term hereof, a policy of insurance and in such form as the City Attorney may deem proper, executed by an insurance company approved by the City Attorney, whereby the owner and the driver of each of the vehicles described in said permit are insured against liability for damage to property and for injury to or -11- death of any person as a result of the ownership, operation or other use thereof, the minimum liability limits upon each such vehicle being as adopted from time to time by resolution of the City Council. Such policy of insurance shall contain an endorsement naming the City as an additional insured, and under which it is stipulated that the City is indemnified and held harmless from and against all costs, expenses, and liability arising out of, or based upon, any and all property damage, or damages for personal injuries, including death, which results or is claimed to have resulted from any act or omission on the part of ambulance operator or ambulance operator's agents or employees. .- In addition to the additional named insured endorsement on ambulance operator's policy of insurance, said insurance policy shall be endorsed to include the following language: "Such insurance as is afforded by the endorsement for the Additional Insureds shall apply as primary insurance. Any other insurance maintained by the City of Lodi or its officers and employees shall be excess only and not contributing with the insurance afforded b-$ this endorsement. I' Such policy of insurance shall contain an endorsement providing that said policy will not be cancelled until notice in writing -12- shall have been given to the City of Lodi, addressed in care of the City Clerk, City Hall, Lodi, California, at least ten days immediately prior to the time of such cancellation shall become effective. A duplicate or certificate of said public liability and property damage insurance containing the above-stated required endorsements shall be delivered to the City Clerk within ten (10) days after the issuance, and renewal, of said policy. Section 14. Surrender of Suspended ox Revoked Permits. All permits which have been suspended or revoked by the City Council shall be surrendered to the Finance Director and the operation of all emergency ambulances covered by such permit shall cease and the continued operation thereof shall __ thereafter constitute a violation of this Part. Section 15. Ambulance Station. An ambulance operator shall establish a station within the City, and must provide an adequate response time consider- ing traffic and street patterns, to any location within tde City. All locations must comply with all applicable zoning and building regulations. Each station shall be adequate to house all drivers, attendants, and ambulances. -13- Section 16. Dispatch. A Mobile Intensive Care Unit shall be the primary unit dispatched to all emergency calls to treat and transport the sick, injured, and disabled person or persons and shall be staffed by a minimum of one (1) emergency medical technician/paramedic and one (1) emergency medical technician (1A). Should a Mobile Intensive Care Unit not be available, a Basic Life Support Unit shall be dispatched and shall be staffed with a minimum of two (2) emergency medical tech- nicians (1). Section 17. Hours of Operation. __ - _- Each ambulance operator shall provide service on a seven (7) days per week, twenty-four (24) hours per day basis. Section 18. Transport of Patient. Unless otherwise directed, the emergency medical technician (1A) or emergency medical technician paramedic shall transport emergency patients to the most accessible emergency hospital equipped, staffed, and prepared to administer care appropriate to the needs of the patients, or as directed by the State or Federal Welfare and Institutions Codes. -14- Exceptions may prevent this policy. Examples are: (a) Private pay patients; (b) Multiple casualties, triage direction; (c) Paramedic directive. Section 19. Rates to be Charged for Ambulance Service. The owner of every ambulance operating in the City of Lodi shall file with his application for an ambulance opera- tor's permit, a true and correct schedule of rates to be charged for the transportation of passengers in any and all vehicles operated by said operator. Said rates shall not be changed or modified in any manner without first filing said changed or modified rates with the City Clerk thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such change or modification. ~ ._ The City Council reserves the right to finally determine and fix by resolution, the rates to be charged by the operator of the ambulance service. Section 20. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are repealed insofar as such conflict may exist. / Section 21. This ordinance shall be published one time in the "Lodi News Sentinel", a daily newspaper of general circulation -15- printed and published in the City of Lodi and shall be in force and take effect thirty days from and after its passage and approval. Approved this 1st day of February, 1984 Mayor Attest: Alice M. Reimche City Clerk State of California County of San Joaquin, ss. I, Alice M. Reimche, City Clerk of the City of Lodi, do hereby certify that Ordinance No. 1306 was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Lodi held January 18, 1984 and was thereafter passed, adopted and ordered to print at a regular meeting of said Council held February 1, 1984 by the following vote: Ayes : Council Members - Reid, Snider, Murphy, Noes : Council Members - None Pinkerton, & Olson (Mayor) Absent: Council Members - None Abstain: Council Members - None I further certify that Ordinance No. 1306 was approved and signed by the Mayor on the date of its passage and the same has been published pursuant to law. / Approved as to form Alice M. Reimche City Clerk Ronald M. Stein City Attorney -16-