MOFD Considering Significant Ambulance Service Reductions in Moraga

In an unpleasant surprise, we (along with the Town Council) learned this week that the Moraga-Orinda Fire District is contemplating a significant reduction in Moraga ambulance service levels and hours. The MOFD board will discuss the issue on Wednesday, May 21; we believe it will be part of the budget discussion. Their meeting agenda and associated materials (including how to attend in person or via Zoom) can be viewed here.

We suggest you let the MOFD Board know you object to any such reductions by emailing them at info@mofd.org

Based on available information gathered from the most recent Town Council meeting (and recall the Moraga Town Council does not determine policies of the MOFD), the present budget under consideration would result in Moraga having a staffed ambulance for only 10 hours per day; outside of those hours, an ambulance would be dispatched from the Orinda firehouse on the opposite side of Highway 24 or an AMR ambulance from somewhere else in the county. Presumably, a firefighter-paramedic assigned to a fire rig could attempt to stabilize a patient while waiting for the ambulance to arrive for further medical attention and/or transport to an emergency room or hospital.

Service reduction warnings from MOFD thus far haven’t been explicitly communicated – and there has been no community outreach - but rather the outcome has been left implicit (i.e. buried) in the budget, staffing and personnel classifications they’ve been working on. There is no specific budgetary concern necessitating this approach that so significantly reduces service to Moragans.

It’s noteworthy that MOFD was created to provide local service levels superior to those that county fire and EMS can provide. Further, the vast majority of MOFD service calls (80%-90%) are medical vs fire.

You can click here for a video of the Town Council discussion and intent to object to MOFD implementation (2:29:29 mark).