Fifty percent of the cardiac arrest calls the Ripon Consolidated Fire District handled last year ended with the patient surviving.

It’s a relatively solid survival rate not enjoyed by a lot of fire services.

Some have suggested the district jettison the ambulance service and turn Ripon coverage over to a private vendor as a way to help staff a second fire engine.

That actually would make matters worse when it comes to fire protection and such for the 22,000 residents within the 56 square-mile district.

Not only does the ambulance service now pay for itself as opposed to a few years back when it was a financial drag on the district, but it serves as a key function that isn’t obvious.

Fire Chief Eric DeHart describes the ambulance as a “fire engine without water and a pump” for a reason.

The two emergency technicians on the ambulance crew are cross trained as firefighters.

And the actual ambulances are equipped with basic equipment to handle most non-fire emergencies a fire engine rolls to.

As such, when a fire does occur and the department’s engine company and ambulance crews aren’t tied up on another call, Ripon can have four fighters on scene.

Ditching the ambulance service would free up little, if any, funds to hire additional firefighters given its operating budget is covered by reimbursement for services.

And it would mean there would be even less firefighters based in Ripon responding to a call.

Parcel tax would staff

second engine company

The fire district is moving toward a parcel tax election this August that would generate $1.8 million. The current operating budget is $4.3 million.

The addition funds would allow for the staffing of a second fire engine 24/7 that would be housed at the now shuttered River Road station.

The annual cost of six firefighters including pay, benefits, a payroll related costs is $900,000.

“Minutes, actually seconds, matter” when it comes to the best outcomes for medical emergencies and fires, noted DeHart.

An engine company at the River Road station would reduce critical response time in the northern part of the city and rural Ripon to the north and east.

It would also mean the department — which handled 2,881 calls last year — would reduce the chances of Ripon residents experiencing a medical emergency or a house fire having to wait for mutual or automatic aid to arrive from Escalon, Manteca, Modesto, one Salida.

Two firefighters

face limitations

There are limited things that two firefighters can do at a structure fire.

It improves with four.

That is what Ripon Fire would have with a second, fully staffed engine company.

Best practices call for 15 firefighters which is why Ripon, as well as other departments such as Manteca, rely on assistance from neighboring fire services.

Most urban departments — including in San Joaquin County cities — staff engine companies with three firefighters to make them more effective as the fires engine company to arrive.

The City of Lathrop, that is covered by a fire district with rural coverage, has three-man engines at city-based stations made possible with a sales tax sharing agreement the city has with the Lathrop Manteca Fire District.

The engine companies at that district’s two rural stations have two-man engines supported by parcel taxes just like Ripon Fire.

Basically, over 70 percent of the Ripon district, roughly 16,000 people, are urban Ripon residents.

Manteca abandoned two-man engine companies for three in the late 1980s.

The three-man engine resulted in lower property losses in fires and better medical outcomes.

In Manteca, fire and a Manteca District Ambulance (MDA) unit run concurrently to 9-1-1 calls.

Whichever is closest and the  first to arrive in medical emergencies initial triage steps. MDA crews are not trained as firefighters.

The two-man engine with the two-man ambulance crew cross-trained as firefighters has effectively helped counter the minuses of not having a three-man engine company.

That has been a strategy that has effectively served Ripon Consolidated Fire District for a number of years, essentially squeezing as much effectiveness as possible out of every limited tax dollar spent.

Concurrent calls have been accounting for a large share of district responses in recent years. There were 986 times out of 2,881 calls in 2025 when the Ripon Fire engine company was tied up handling an emergency call when another 9-1-1 call was made for help in Ripon.

Those responding — especially from departments along the Highway 99 corridor from Modesto to Manteca — also have to contend with commuter congestion depending on when they are needed, adding further time to a long distance response.

The bottom line is the cross-training strategy for ambulance crews — while it is not going away even if a second fire engine company is staffed — is no longer as effective at dulling the impact of Ripon Fire have only one fully staffed engine company.

It should be noted there is more to what an ambulance crew does besides pick up and transport.

Triage and initial medical care are critical and takes time.

They also need to take patients to a hospital, primarily in Modesto or Manteca.

That includes time in the emergency room.

By the time transport time and such are factored in, the crew is unavailable to assist the department’s one engine company.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com