Multnomah County commissioners voted 3-2 Thursday to approve a new ambulance service plan that nearly doubles the response-time standard for life-threatening emergencies in Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village, shifting the benchmark from eight minutes to 15. The decision caps years of negotiation over how the county's ambulance contractor should be held accountable, and it immediately drew sharp criticism from East County leaders who say their communities are being left behind.
The vote, first reported by KGW, split the five-member board, with Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon pushing an amendment that would have restored the eight-minute response standard in Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village. That amendment also failed on a 3-2 vote. Jones-Dixon called the commission's action inequitable and wrong, according to the station's report.
Troutdale Mayor David Ripma went further, criticizing the change to East County response standards as inequitable and outrageous, per the same account. The city of Wood Village issued its own statement expressing disappointment in the plan's approval, saying that where a person lives should not determine their response or care, and that Wood Village and its East County neighbors would continue seeking a long-term regional solution for fire and emergency medical services.
A Separate Incentive, Not a Requirement
Alongside the new response standard, commissioners also passed a resolution offering additional preference in future contractor selection to any ambulance provider willing to commit to an eight-minute response standard throughout East County without a government subsidy. Jones-Dixon joined his colleagues in unanimously approving that incentive structure even after his own amendment had failed, the station's report notes.
County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said the incentive does not require contractors to adopt the eight-minute standard — it simply gives them an edge in the bidding process if they choose to. She added that the approach avoids risking an unsuccessful procurement that could force the county to provide all ambulance response services itself, according to KGW.
Why the Standard Changed
County officials say the new plan sets a more realistic benchmark for the next ambulance contractor based on available resources, geographic challenges and health equity needs, per the station's reporting. Multnomah County used state data, including response-time zones, to help build the plan, which covers staffing models, medic training, patient training, response-time requirements and other factors.
The county's draft Ambulance Service Plan document formalizes the split: contract ambulances must reach eight-minute life-threatening calls in the urban zone 90% of the time, but suburban-zone cities — identified in the draft as Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village and Maywood Park — get 15 minutes, zero seconds or less, 90% of the time. The new plan still requires approval from the state before it can take effect, KGW reports. Oregon law requires counties to maintain an Ambulance Service Plan, and the Oregon Health Authority's Emergency Medical Services Program is responsible for reviewing and approving those county plans.
Years of Struggles With the Current Standard
The debate over response times has simmered for years, largely because AMR, the county's ambulance contractor, failed to meet the eight-minute, 90%-of-calls benchmark for life-threatening emergencies for an extended stretch. OPB reported that during the week of October 20–26, 2024, AMR ambulances reached only about 80% of life-threatening calls within that window, well short of the 90% target.
Conditions have since improved. Mid-contract negotiations with the ambulance provider allowed for a hybrid staffing model that helped bring response times down, and Multnomah County reported that AMR went from averaging 43 ambulances a day in July 2024 to 66 a day by March 2025. County Health Officer Richard Bruno told the board that AMR had improved its response times for all call types since a settlement agreement took effect, though the provider was still not fully compliant with its contract. The county also noted that periods with zero ambulances available to answer 911 calls had dropped from as many as 20 to 30 hours a week to just minutes a week, with none recorded during the last week of March 2025.
More recent figures from AMR, cited by KATU, show East Zone response times improving from 9 minutes, 49 seconds in 2025 to 9 minutes, 9 seconds so far in 2026, with West Zone times improving similarly, from 9 minutes, 50 seconds to 9 minutes, 16 seconds over the same stretch.
