The Ross Valley Paramedic Authority (RVPA) is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA): a formal partnership in which several cities, towns, and fire districts join under a single agreement to provide a service more effectively together than any of them could alone. Eight Ross Valley communities formed RVPA in 1982 to share the cost of advanced paramedic care and deliver it as one coordinated system.
Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic care goes well beyond routine ambulance transport. RVPA’s firefighter-paramedics are trained and equipped to deliver life-saving medications and therapies in the field, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In effect, RVPA brings the hospital emergency room to the patient.
Paramedics are stationed both on transport ambulances and in neighborhood fire stations across the Ross Valley, so critical care can begin within minutes of a 911 call, when seconds make the difference. Treatment starts at the scene and continues all the way to the emergency room.
The service is delivered by your local fire agencies and staffed by the Marin County Fire Department under contract with the Authority, giving residents and visitors across the Ross Valley a consistent, high level of emergency medical care.
