The Los Angeles City Council on Oct. 31 approved emergency measures to add certified paramedics to city operations and to ease immediate staffing shortages in the Fire Department, while simultaneously requiring additional review before any broader expansion.

Council action consisted of two related votes. In a special meeting the council adopted a resolution limiting the emergency hiring authority to an initial class of 50 temporary paramedics and directing the department to report back to Council and relevant committees before any additional classes are authorized. The council then approved a committee report (as amended) and an ordinance creating the temporary single‑function paramedic classification. Roll calls recorded each measure as approved in the meeting.

Council members and department staff described the move as an emergency measure to relieve paramedic workload on existing crews. Chief Ware (Fire Department) told the council letters of offer for the first group would go out immediately, orientation would begin the following week, and the new hires were expected to be on assignment after training (Chief Ware said Nov. 13 as a start date for field duty for the initial class).

Several council members raised legal and equity concerns before voting. Councilmember Hernandez and others asked whether the temporary hiring would conflict with a 1974 consent decree that governs firefighter hiring and the city's residency requirement. Personnel staff told the council that residency rules are not applied to temporary appointments; the consent decree applies to permanent firefighter appointments. Phyllis Lyons of the personnel department said the emergency class had no women candidates available who passed the physical‑ability (PAT) standard for the temporary appointments.

Councilmembers pressed the department to explain how temporary appointments would not undermine long‑term diversity and residency goals. The council required a report back to include: a review of hires proposed to receive permanent status from the temporary pool; how residency rules will be applied when permanent status is considered; steps to recruit and mentor women and minorities into future classes; and a fiscal account of training and carry‑forward costs. The resolution and committee report direct that those follow‑ups be returned to council or to designated committees before the second and third emergency classes proceed.

Motions and votes were recorded on the meeting agenda: the special meeting action authorizing up to 50 temporary paramedics passed unanimously in the special session; the committee report and the ordinance creating the temporary classification passed on recorded votes (12 ayes). Councilmembers said the council backed the emergency hires to avoid immediate patient‑service gaps while requiring department accountability for long‑term hiring policy and diversity goals.