Private Firm Offers Board Alternative to Sheriff’s Copters

Approval for a pair of helicopters requested by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department was delayed Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors demanded to know if private companies could do the same rescue, firefighting and medical transport jobs more cheaply.

The Sheriff’s Department asked the board to approve $6.4 million to lease one new helicopter, with an option to buy it, and to purchase parts to refurbish a second. The equipment would be paid for largely by unused public safety revenue generated by a half-cent sales tax.

But Charles McLaughlin, president of Aspen Helicopters of Oxnard, said his company could do medical transport for free and might be able to fight fires for less money as well. He told supervisors that, in the interest of free enterprise, he expected his company to be considered before automatically letting the Sheriff’s Department get the bulk of the county’s helicopter business.

McLaughlin said he had 10 helicopters, five fixed-wing aircraft and a specially outfitted air ambulance staffed by a critical-care nurse, paramedic and pilot. Transporting patients, he said, would cost the county nothing because the patients’ insurance pays for it. His company absorbs the cost if the client is uninsured and can’t pay.

“This service is being seriously underutilized,” he told supervisors. “In 1999, it only transported 20 emergency responses despite being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

McLaughlin also said his planes had been contracted for firefighting.

“We . . . are not asking to replace any needed public agency services such as law enforcement and true search-and-rescue, but we feel that there are areas where we, the private helicopter industry, can help the county of Ventura with helicopter support,” he said.

Supervisor Judy Mikels said she had never seen a cost comparison regarding helicopter services.

“I feel uncomfortable that I don’t have all the information needed to base my decision on,” she said. “I’m a little discomfited that we were not provided with any other options.”

Sheriff Bob Brooks has said that his department is best qualified to do search-and-rescues, firefighting and medical transport because of employees’ experience and expertise. He was not available for comment Tuesday.

The board postponed its decision until it gets more information.