After an extended and potentially dangerous squabble over which agency is better equipped to handle air rescues, Orange County fire and sheriff’s officials said Wednesday they’ve come up with a plan that emphasizes teamwork and will enable safer and more efficient emergency responses.
The joint plan emerged following a bitter, months-long feud between sheriff’s deputies and firefighters over rescues that involved the use of helicopters, and which in some cases led to delays in transporting injured people to hospitals.
On some occasions, copter crews from both the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Orange County Fire Authority raced to the same remote areas, leading to mid-air confrontations while patients awaited care. The tangling between the agencies and lack of consolidated efforts in critical situations also drew recent scrutiny of the Orange County Grand Jury.
On Wednesday, leaders from both agencies and OCFA board members reiterated how squabbles among air crews do not help patients.