Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 16

A I i I ,4 A i -4 .1 A (-(-I .1 Oakland Berkeley San Francisco METRO Alameda Albany Emeryville Piedmont nn TBE TRIBUNE Friday, March 17, 1989 Ambulance staff By Carolyn Nowborgh nwyxbw Dismal ambulance response times in Alameda County could be cut at least 1 to 2 minutes under plans being advanced by the City of Oakland land the county. Both the county and Oakland 1 prepared their plans after a county consultant Fitch and As-, sodates of Kansas City, reported last year that the current system for summoning ambulances requires too many time-wasting steps. Such delays can be crucial in emergencies such as cardiac arrests, in which brain cells may die within four to six minutes, officials say. The county proposal for a new will be presented to the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday. It calls for a host of major changes to improve speed, among them: 1 a Redesign of one of the most complex and slow dispatch systems in the country.

Fines for not meeting response time goals. Utilizing one company to provide service Instead of two as at present Testing a controversial modification in ambulance staff- ing. In Oakland, where 54 percent the county's calls for emergency ambulances originate, the Fire Department has developed its own, similar plan for dispatching ambulances more swiftly by summer. It will be before the City Council shortly. Oakland fire officials hope the new dispatch system, which would require an estimated $1 million in computer upgrading, will cut down 911 busy signals and virtually end dispatching of fire crews with emergency medical technicians to false medical alarms.

Under the current system, as in most Alameda County cities, fire trucks respond first to all Ricardo Gonzales worka oa lateat creation at PabUtes, Hayward. SECTION Time is of the essence in emergencies such as cardiac arrest in which brain cells die within four to six minutes. calls because calls arent screened. "We might be stepping on a few county toes, but our main concern is the people of Oakland, said Assistant Fire Chief Robert McGue. We feel safer that help will get there quicker if we control the calls instead of the county.

Because many of the other cities also fear losing control of emergency medical calls, the county doesn't expect them to participate in' any new dispatch -system until it is proven feasible in unincorporated areas. There is a concern about transferring responsibility to another jurisdiction, that if anything goes wrong, the city councils will have to answer for it, said county Emergency Medical Services Director Ben Mathews. For most of the cities, we will have to demonstrate we can do it first County officials say the current average response time cannot be calculated because the 17 city 911 answering points do not record when calls first come in. But the county says ambulances get to victims on average within seven minutes of being requested by county dispatch not the caller and that a substantial number of people must wait from 19 to 17 minutes from the time they call. In most of the county, residents call 911, where an operator writes down information and See AMBULANCE, Page B-2 In addition, the city has loaned the inn $1.7 milium.

Last July, Ruppentbal asked for another $500,000, saying the inn suffered a monthly operating deficit of $20,000 to $35,000. Mona Lombard, a spokeswoman for the citys Office of Economic Development and Employment, said she didn't know how the bankruptcy might affect the inn's application for additional city funds, which is still pending. The Washington Inn, located at 495 10th St, is a cornerstone of -the 01 Oakland renewal project, a partly finished complex of Victorian-era offices and retail shops bounded by Broadway and Washington, 8th and 10th streets. Ruppentbal said he plans to keep the finely furnished hotel, along with its restaurant and bar, open while he and hia part- See INN, Page B4 Little LEPRECHAUN Leprechaaa hats dont just grow on trees, you know, especially leprechaun kata that fit kaman-sized kids. So the students at Gsstro Hementary School, 7125 Donal Ave Cerrito, got to accoutrements for St Patricks Day.

Sara Nelson, 9, and her friend Jennifer Lee, 8, pat op their newly finished St. Patricks Day hats. A nice, green top kat always makes for a top th day to ye, me lads lataies! Muralists flavor of Old Mexico adds spice to local restaurants By Ramon Coronado AS A BULLFIGHTER to the early 19500, Ricardo Daniel Gonzalez never stepped into the ring until he waa fully prepared toe the attack. Today, aa a moralist whose historical renderings of California and Mexican history embellish walla of more than 1,000 restaurants, he never lets a drop of paint leave his brush until he has fully researched his subject Many years ago as. Gonzalez was admiring his freshly painted mural on the outside of a restaurant a man came up and pointed out that a chicken in the painting was not anatomically correct "All I know is the chicken on my plate, a humble See MURAL, Page B-2 Oaklands Washington Inn forced into bankruptcy below, waa a first flee blaze they landed in a bush, said 13-year-old Latoya Carnegie, who lives downstairs.

Then she busted the Window out with her arm, and jumped and a man caught When Dwyer arrived, Robin- son was enveloped in flames, and the floor of the apartment was about to collapse. Robinson jumped into his arms, and then Dwyer ran up a flight of stairs to be sure no one was still in the apartment Minutes later the Carnegies ran from their apartment I was getting my three children ready for school, Cynthia See BLAZE, Page B4 Mother, children fall At least 20 people watched the toddlers hit the ground, but none of the spectators moved to help Jack Choovon IWbwM The Washington Inn in downtown Oakland, a small, city-subsidized luxury hotel considered a showpiece in redevelopment efforts, yesterday filed for bankruptcy, its general partner said. The historic 46-room inn, which has become a favorite of the power-lunch set since it opened in July 1987, petitioned for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. This is something we really didnt want to do, but its protection we need from a foreclosure sale, said general partner Ken Ruppentbal, who manages the hotel with his wife, Lillian.

The inns lender, Amador Valley Savings and Loan in Pleasanton, initiated foreclosure proceedings last October after the inn failed to make three monthly payments on a 31.98 million loan. Mexicali Rose moral in Oakland, 30 feet to district was accidental and began in the living room, where the children were playing. Robinson, who suffered second- and third-degree burns on her arms and legs, was in -the shower when she heard children screaming and found flames spreading through the apartment She had to throw the babies out the bathroom window because flames were so bad, and pussycat? neighbors reported a. mountain lion in the hills behind their Natalie Drive homes. Palmlsano doesn't doubt that the neighbors saw a mountain lion on Saturday, but cannot accept the creature Andre taped as being ooe.

a Andre once hunted mountain lions and said he was within 100 hundred feet of this one. He insists thats what it is. He did agree its fur is curiously long. The long fur and the fact that it was hunting a neighborhood pet tells Andre it was an older cat that is having difficulty hunt-ing'add had come down here looking for easy prey. Mountain lions typically weigh from 100 to 150 pounds.

They are 3 to 4 feet long, with another 2 to 3 feet of black-tipped tail By Richard Sponcor and Bid Snyder ISelMtaM I Fire swept through an East Oakland apartment yesterday, forcing a 24-year-old woman to -throw her', two young children out a second-story window then jump about SO feet to the ground. At least 20 people watched the hit the ground, but none of the spectators moved to help, said Michael Dwyer, a former firefighter who arrived in time to catch the badly bunted moth- er as she fell toward the ground. The kid hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Everyone stood around like they were trauma- tized, he said. Is it a mountain lion or children Lamar Evans, 5, and Brenton Sneed, 2 were in stable condition atf Childrens Hospital last night Their mother, Cathy Robinson, was in critical but stable condition at Highland General Hospital.

Another child, Leonard Evans, 6, escaped through the front door before it was enveloped by flames. Investigators said the blase at' 4005 Lyon Ave. in the Fruitvale Another woman saw the animal Tuesday' evening. She said the notion that its a bousecat is They dont grow cats that big, said Julie Rapkln. Police came Saturday when the creature was seen behind homes on Natalie Drive.

They had Intended to shoot it, said Rapkln, but Fish and Game officials told them not to. I was really upset, Rapkln said. If a mountain lion is found, she wants it tranquilized and taken somewhere else. Reports of mountain lions have been coming from Moraga and Orinda residents for two years, said Palmlsano. The latest commotion, which has some residents worried about the safety of their children and pets, began when several tkaWbrnm MORAGA The neighbors saw the cat three times and are sure its a mountain lion.

But the biologist from the state Fish and Game Department says it looks like a pussycat, and says it ought to be let alone. What it was, was a big, cute, fluffy pussycat, said state Fish and Game Department biologist Terry Palmlsano, after examining a blurry videotape made Monday. I have no doubt that mountain lions do live in. that area, said Palmlsano, but she dopant think the feline on the tape was doe. Palmlsano walked the area where a woman said a German epberd dog was chased by an hillside animal.

There were no 1.