The city shall purchase and equip necessary ambulances for emergency
service. Ambulance services to be provided under the terms of this
division shall be limited to emergency calls only, and the city ambulance
and equipment shall never be used to transfer any patient from one
place to another in other than an emergency situation, or be used
for transportation of an ambulatory patient to or from their home
to a hospital. It is expressly provided that, in the event of an emergency
when no other ambulance shall be available, the city ambulance may
be dispatched on a call outside of the limits of the city. Any emergency
call made by the city ambulance shall terminate at the first available
hospital with emergency room service, or at the emergency room of
any hospital to which the ambulance service may be directed by a medical
doctor or emergency medical technician attending or who has examined
the emergency patient. In this connection, the city ambulance is expressly
forbidden to continue past this directed place of termination.
(1999 Code, sec. 1.901)
The city has entered into an agreement with the city volunteer
fire department under the terms of which the city volunteer fire department
will provide trained personnel for the operation of the city emergency
ambulance and administration of emergency medical services.
(1999 Code, sec. 1.902)
If collection of the charges cannot be made at the time of service,
the police department shall obtain the information necessary to collect
the charges due the city. All funds collected, and all collection
information, shall be delivered to the city secretary for the billing
of the user of the service. Any charges due the city and not paid
within ninety (90) days after billing shall be turned over to the
city council to take such action as shall be deemed necessary for
collection.
(1999 Code, sec. 1.904)
The fact that the city accepts the responsibility for operating
the emergency ambulance service as a part of the city's obligation
to provide protection for the public health at a time when no individual
or corporate enterprise is available makes it imperative that the
performance of this vital service be recognized as a governmental
function and that the doctrine of governmental immunity shall be and
it is hereby invoked to the extent of the applicable laws of the state.
(1999 Code, sec. 1.905)