Chapter 5.36
AMBULANCE SERVICES1
Sections:
5.36.020 License – Required – Exemptions.
5.36.030 Licensee – Application – Contents.
5.36.060 License – Application – Investigation.
5.36.070 Declaration of public convenience and necessity.
5.36.080 License – Council hearing.
5.36.090 License – Conditions prerequisite to issuance.
5.36.120 License – Application – Fee.
5.36.150 License – Suspension, revocation.
5.36.180 Driver’s certificate.
Prior legislation: Ords. 482B and 710.
5.36.010 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply, unless otherwise specified:
“Ambulance” means any privately owned motor vehicle that is specially designed or constructed and equipped, and is intended to be used for and is maintained or operated for the emergency and nonemergency transportation of patients, including dual purpose funeral coaches or hearses which otherwise comply with the provisions of this chapter.
“Ambulance operator” means any person engaged in the business of carrying or transporting patients by means of an ambulance.
“Attendant” means a trained and/or qualified person responsible for the operation of an ambulance and the care of the patients whether or not the attendant also serves as driver.
“Attendant-driver” means a person who is qualified as an attendant and a driver.
“Health Officer” means the Riverside County Health Officer acting as the City Health Officer.
“Patient” means a person who is sick, injured, wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or helpless. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.010].
5.36.020 License – Required – Exemptions.
A. Ambulance Operation. It is unlawful for any person, either as owner, agent or otherwise, to engage in the business of operating an ambulance in the City without first securing a license so to do from the City according to each and every requirement of this chapter or without complying with each and every regulation contained in this chapter and any regulations or rules promulgated by resolution pursuant thereto, pertaining to the business of carrying or transporting patients for hire upon the streets, alleys, or any public way or place of the City unless said person holds a currently valid ambulance license issued pursuant to this chapter.
An ambulance operated by a public entity shall not be required to be licensed under this chapter.
No ambulance, including a public ambulance exempt from licensing under this chapter, shall be operated for ambulance purposes, and no person shall drive, cause or permit it to be operated for such purposes on the streets, alleys or any public way or place of the City unless operated by a licensed attendant-driver, who shall be accompanied by a licensed attendant or attendant-driver, or unless there is present in the ambulance a California-licensed physician and surgeon or a California-registered nurse (RN); provided, however, that in nonemergency cases the patient’s physician may waive the requirement that a licensed attendant be present while the patient is being transported.
B. Exemptions. No licenses as required by this section shall be required for an ambulance operator or for the driver, attendant or attendant-driver of an ambulance who:
1. Is rendering assistance to licensed ambulance operators in the case of a major catastrophe or emergency for which the licensed ambulance operator or operators of the City are insufficient or which they are unable to handle; or
2. Is operating from a location or headquarters outside of the City in order to transport patients who are picked up beyond the limits of the City to locations within the City; but no such outside ambulance shall be used to pick up patients within the City for transportation to locations within or without the City, unless the attendant-driver, attendant and the person subject to the provisions of subsection (A) of this section in respect to such ambulance holds currently valid licenses and permits issued pursuant to this chapter; or
3. Is operating under such circumstances where failure to provide ambulance service may jeopardize the health or safety of any person; or
4. Ascertains from the person ordering the ambulance service that no licensee under this chapter is able or willing to render the service requested, and notifies the City’s law enforcement agency that he is going to make such pickup. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.020].
5.36.030 Licensee – Application – Contents.
An application for an ambulance operator license under the terms of this chapter shall be made upon such forms as may be prepared and prescribed by the City and shall be filed with the Business License Clerk, together with the required application fee. Said application shall be signed and verified by the applicant and shall include the following information and contain or have attached thereto the following material:
A. The name, business and residence address of the applicant and of the registered and legal owners of the ambulance or ambulances to be operated by the applicant;
B. The trade or other fictitious name, if any, under which the applicant does business and proposes to do business. If the applicant is a copartnership, the names and addresses of the copartners shall be listed. If the applicant is a corporation, the application shall list the names and addresses of all corporate officers, directors, managing employees and any stockholder or stockholders who own five percent or more of the stock of the applicant corporation;
C. The training and experience of the applicant in the transportation and care of patients;
D. A description of each ambulance to be operated by the applicant, including the make, model, year of manufacture, motor and chassis number, current State license number, patient capacity, the length of time the ambulance has been in use, the color scheme, insignia, name, monogram or other distinguishing characteristics to be used to designate the applicant’s ambulance or ambulances, the special equipment installed or proposed to be installed in each such ambulance and whether such ambulances are or will be operated as authorized emergency vehicles;
E. The fact that each ambulance of applicant complies with the State Vehicle Code Sections 2416, 2418, and 21714 and Title 13 of the State Administrative Code, as well as all other State laws, orders and regulations applicable to the licensing of emergency vehicles;
F. The location and description of the place or places from which applicant intends to operate, park, and store his ambulances;
G. The scheduled rates proposed to be charged by applicant for ambulance service;
H. The fact that all proposed operators and drivers of applicant’s ambulance or ambulances hold ambulance driver’s certificates issued by the State Department of Motor Vehicles;
I. An accompanying license application fee as set by resolution for each ambulance of the applicant. The fee shall not be returned in the event that the license applied fords denied, revoked or suspended as provided in this chapter;
J. The fingerprints and thumbprints of the applicant;
K. The hourly availability of ambulance or ambulances proposed to be operated by the applicant;
L. The names, addresses and experience in first aid and driving of each attendant, or attendant-driver, employed or to be employed by the applicant;
M. A statement that the applicant carries general liability insurance in a minimum amount of $1,000,000, and agrees that said policy shall carry an endorsement protecting the City against any claims or demands as the result of persons injured or killed or property damaged as the result of the operation of the ambulance or ambulances to be operated by the applicant;
N. An acknowledged receipt of an agreement to comply with all the rules and regulations governing ambulances, as provided in this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;
O. A financial statement of the applicant, including the amounts of unpaid judgments against the applicant and the nature of the transaction or acts giving rise to said judgments;
P. Any facts which the applicant believes tend to prove that the public convenience, necessity, health, safety and welfare require the granting of an ambulance operator’s license to him;
Q. Such other information as the City shall deem reasonably necessary for a comprehensive and responsible investigation of said applicant, including but not limited to photographs;
R. A copy of the most recently issued emergency vehicle permit issued by the California Highway Patrol for each ambulance proposed to be operated by applicant. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.030].
5.36.040 Standards.
A. Each ambulance to be operated in the City shall at all times when in use as such:
1. Be suitable for the transportation of patients from the standpoint of health, sanitation and safety, and be maintained, stored and parked in suitable premises;
2. Contain first aid and medical equipment consistent with the standards established in this chapter, which equipment shall be proper for such commission and use and as a minimum shall include all emergency equipment, required by the regulations of the California Highway Patrol, adopted, and enforced as to emergency equipment to be carried in ambulances used for emergency services;
3. Be in compliance with all current applicable laws and local ordinances relating to health, sanitation and safety and be licensed by the State;
4. Be equipped with such lights, sirens and special markings to designate it as an ambulance, as are required by the regulations of the California Highway Patrol covering the operation and equipment of ambulances used for emergency service; and
5. Be in compliance with the minimum safety requirement of the regulations adopted and enforced by the California Highway Patrol covering the operation and equipment service.
B. Each licensed ambulance, its equipment, and the premises from which it operates, and all records relating to its maintenance and operation as such, shall be open to inspection by the Chief of Police or his designated representatives during the licensee’s usual hours of operation. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.040].
5.36.050 Liability insurance.
A. No ambulance license shall be issued under this chapter, nor shall such license be valid after issuance, nor shall any person drive or operate an ambulance or cause to be driven or operated an ambulance unless there is at all times on file with the City and in force and effect insurance coverage and a policy therefor, issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the State, for each and every ambulance owned and/or operated by or for the applicant or licensee, providing general liability insurance in the amount not less than $1,000,000.
B. Said insurance policies shall be submitted to the City for approval prior to the issuance of each ambulance license. Satisfactory evidence that such insurance is at all times in force and effect shall be furnished to the Business License Clerk, in such form as he may specify, by all licensees required to provide such insurance under the provisions of this chapter.
C. Every insurance policy required under this chapter shall contain a provision for a continuing liability thereunder to the full amount thereof, notwithstanding any recovery thereon, that the liability of the insurer shall not be affected by the insolvency or bankruptcy of the assured, and that until the policy is revoked the insurance company will not be relieved from liability on account of nonpayment of premium, failure to renew license at the end of the year, or any act or omission of the named assured. Such policy of insurance shall further provide for the payment of any judgments up to the limits of said policy, recovered against any person other than the owner, his agent or employees, who may operate the same with the consent or acquiescence of the owner.
D. Every insurance policy required under this chapter shall extend for the period to be covered by the license applied for and the insurer shall be obligated to give not less than 10 days’ written notice to the City and to the assured before any cancellation or termination thereof earlier than its expiration date. The cancellation or other termination of any such policy shall automatically revoke and terminate the licenses issued for the ambulances covered by such policy, unless another insurance policy complying with the provisions of this section is provided and in effect at the time of such cancellation or termination.
E. Satisfactory evidence that the liability insurance required by this section is at all times in full force and effect shall be furnished to the City by each licensee required to provide such insurance. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.050].
5.36.060 License – Application – Investigation.
Upon the receipt of a completed application, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer shall conduct such an investigation as he deems necessary to be made of the applicant and of his proposed operations to determine if the public health, safety, welfare, convenience and necessity require the granting of a license under this chapter for ambulance service for which the application has been made, and shall further investigate to determine if the applicant meets all the requirements of this chapter. Said investigation shall be completed no later than 30 days after the Chief’s receipt of said completed application. Upon completion of his investigation, the Chief shall recommend to the Council that a license be granted or denied for the requested ambulance service. The Chief’s report and recommendation to the Council shall include but not be limited to the finding on the following:
A. Number, kind and type of equipment and the color scheme to be used;
B. The appropriateness of the vehicles proposed to be used for carrying or transporting patients;
C. The ability, experience, training and responsibility of the applicant and his prospective attendants and attendant-drivers. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.060].
5.36.070 Declaration of public convenience and necessity.
On receipt of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer’s report and recommendation, the City Clerk shall fix a time for public hearing by the Council thereon for the purpose of determining whether the public convenience and necessity and the public health, safety and welfare require the proposed service, and whether the applicant is fit, willing and able to operate an ambulance service in the City, and to conform to the provisions of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. No license shall be granted until the Council, after the Chief Law Enforcement Officer’s investigation and said public hearing, declares by resolution that the public convenience and necessity require the proposed service and that the same will promote the public convenience and the public health, safety and welfare of the City. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.070].
5.36.080 License – Council hearing.
A. The City Clerk shall give notice of the time and place of said hearing by certified mail to all persons to whom licenses for operation of ambulances have been heretofore issued and to the applicant. Said notice shall also be given to the general public by the City Clerk, causing a notice of the time, place and subject matter of such hearing to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. Said publication shall be completed no later than 10 days prior to the date and time set for said hearing.
B. Any interested person may file with the City Clerk a memorandum in support of or in opposition to the issuance of a license no later than the time and date set for said hearing. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.080].
5.36.090 License – Conditions prerequisite to issuance.
After completion of the public hearing, the Council shall, by resolution, approve the issuance of a license under this chapter to the applicant if the Council makes a prior finding as follows:
A. That the City Council has determined that the public convenience, necessity, health, safety and welfare of the City require the proposed ambulance service;
B. That only duly licensed attendant-drivers or attendants are employed in such respective capacities;
C. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof is not registered as a sex offender under the provisions of Section 290 of the State Penal Code;
D. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof does not habitually or excessively use or is not addicted to the use of narcotics, marijuana or dangerous drugs, or has not been convicted of any offense relating to the use, sale, possession or transportation of narcotics, marijuana or habit-forming and dangerous drugs;
E. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof is not a habitual user of intoxicating beverages to excess;
F. That the applicant, or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof, within the three-year period immediately preceding filing the application, has not been under suspension, revocation or probation by the State Department of Motor Vehicles for a cause involving the safe operation of a motor vehicle, or has not been convicted of any of the following offenses: Failure to stop and render aid in an accident involving injury or death, driving while intoxicated, or reckless driving involving bodily injury;
G. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof has not been convicted of any offense punishable as a felony in the State, or has not been convicted of the crime of theft of either degree within the 10-year period immediately preceding the application;
H. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee or attendant thereof has not been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude;
I. That the applicant or any copartner or managing employee thereof does not have a financial interest in more than one ambulance company operating within the City;
J. That the applicant is fit, willing and able to perform such public transportation of patients and to conform to the provisions of this chapter and any rules and regulations promulgated hereunder;
K. That the vehicles described in the application for proposed equipment therein comply with all pertinent State laws;
L. 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 or to defraud the public.
In making such findings, the Council shall take into consideration the number of ambulances already in operation in the City, whether existing ambulance service is adequate to meet the public need, the probable effect of increased ambulance service on local traffic conditions, and the character, experience and responsibility of the applicant.
The Council, in its discretion, shall determine in said resolution the total number of ambulances which shall be operated under such license. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.090].
5.36.100 License – Issuance.
Upon the issuance of a permit, the permittee shall have the right to provide ambulance service for which he has been granted a permit. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.100].
5.36.110 License – Term.
Ambulance operator licenses issued under this chapter shall be valid from the date of issuance for a period of one year, and continue to be valid unless the same have been terminated, suspended or revoked for any of the causes set forth in this chapter. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.110].
5.36.120 License – Application – Fee.
The fee which shall be submitted with the application for an ambulance operator’s license shall be set by resolution. Said application fee shall cover administrative and other costs incident to such application and the investigation thereof. The required application fee shall not be returned in the event that the license applied for is refused, revoked or suspended as provided in this chapter. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.120].
5.36.130 License – Posting.
Each ambulance operator to whom a license has been issued shall cause an authenticated copy of the license to be posted on the dashboard of each ambulance in a position clearly visible, or in some other area of the vehicle approved by the Chief Law Enforcement Officer. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.130].
5.36.140 License – Transfer.
No license for the operation of an ambulance may be sold, assigned, mortgaged, or otherwise transferred without the consent of the Council. Application for transfer of any license for an ambulance shall be subject to the same terms, conditions and requirements as is the application for an original ambulance operator’s license. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.140].
5.36.150 License – Suspension, revocation.
A. The Council may at any time revoke, suspend or change a license granted to an ambulance operator only after giving proper notice to the licensee of its intent to revoke, suspend or change, allowing licensee an opportunity for a public hearing before the Council and it finding that any or all of the acts set forth in subsection (B) of this section have been committed by the licensee. All licenses which have been suspended or revoked by the Council shall be surrendered to the City immediately after suspension or revocation and the operation of all ambulances covered by such licenses shall cease and the continued operation thereof thereafter constitutes a violation of this chapter.
B. If the Council has probable cause to believe that any person to whom an ambulance operator’s license has been issued under this chapter has done any or all of the acts set forth in this subsection, the Council shall immediately set the matter for public hearing and direct the City Clerk to immediately give the licensee written notice by certified mail of a public hearing to be held by the Council at its next regular meeting. This notice shall state the date, time and place of hearing and contain a statement of the facts upon which the Council has acted in calling the hearing. At the hearing, the licensee and any other interested person shall have the right to present evidence as to the facts upon which the Council proposes to revoke or suspend the license and any other facts which may aid the Council in determining whether any of the acts have been committed by the licensee. The Council shall, no later than 15 days after the conclusion of the hearing, by resolution, make findings of fact and either revoke, suspend or not revoke or suspend the license. The Council, in said resolution, shall state the facts upon which its decision is based. Copies of said resolution shall be served by mail upon the licensee and all parties to the hearing requesting the same. The Council’s decision by said resolution shall be final and conclusive. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.150].
5.36.160 Inspections.
Prior to the issuance of any ambulance operator’s license under this chapter, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer shall cause the applicant to submit a current inspection certificate from the Department of the California Highway Patrol certifying that all of the ambulance vehicles of the applicant are in compliance with the regulations covering the operation and equipment of ambulances used for emergency service, as adopted and enforced by said Department of the California Highway Patrol. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.160].
5.36.170 Equipment.
No permittee shall allow an ambulance to be operated unless it is equipped with all safety and emergency equipment required for ambulances by the California Vehicle Code and the California Administrative Code as the same are now written or hereafter amended. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.170].
5.36.180 Driver’s certificate.
No permittee shall allow an ambulance licensed under this chapter to be operated on emergency calls or in service unless the driver thereof holds a valid ambulance driver’s certificate issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the driver is accompanied by an ambulance attendant, or a California-licensed physician or California-registered nurse. [Ord. 1001 § 10, 1995. Code 1987 § 5.24.180].
For statutory provisions on local regulation of ambulance service, see Vehicle Code § 2512.