What COAST LIFE SUPPORT DISTRICT does

Coast Life Support District (CLSD) is a California Special District established in 1986 by state legislation to provide emergency ambulance services across a 60-mile stretch of rural coastline spanning southern Mendocino County and northern Sonoma County. Headquartered at 38901 Ocean Drive in Gualala, California, CLSD operates as a bi-county public agency staffed by approximately 10 employees, including EMTs, paramedics, an EMS Chief, a Training Lieutenant, and administrative support. The District is governed by a seven-member volunteer Board of Directors. CLSD holds exclusive statutory authority to provide ambulance services in its service area, where the nearest hospital emergency room is approximately two hours away, making local EMS essential.

CLSD's core offerings include 24/7 emergency ambulance response (Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support), American Heart Association-certified CPR/AED and First Aid training delivered at the Bill Platt Training Center, Public Safety First Responder (Title 22) courses, and funding of urgent care services at Redwood Coast Medical Services (RCMS) through voter-approved parcel taxes. Revenue is generated from four streams: voter-approved parcel tax assessments on properties within District boundaries, ambulance service billings processed through Wittman Enterprises, donations via PayPal or check, and modest training fees ($30-$120 per attendee for certification cards; instruction itself is free). The District collaborates operationally with five local fire protection districts, the Coastal Valley EMS Agency, the American Heart Association, the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, and NBS for tax billing administration. CLSD also sells a branded First Aid Kit as an ancillary consumer product.

Name

COAST LIFE SUPPORT DISTRICT

Legal name

Coast Life Support District

Website

https://clsd.ca.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Coast Life Support District is a California Special District formed in 1986 that provides the sole ambulance service and emergency medical training across a 60-mile rural coastal area in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, funded by parcel taxes and ambulance billings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Emergency Medical Services

NAICS

Ambulance Services (621910), Administration of Public Health Programs (92312)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Public Health & Human Services Administration (BPAIACAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

County/District/Local Health Departments (HLAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Emergency medical services
• Ambulance services
• CPR training
• EMT certification
• First aid training

Headquarters

HQ city

Gualala

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Parcel Tax Funding: CLSD receives voter-approved parcel tax funding to subsidize emergency medical services because patient billing income is insufficient to cover rural low-volume ambulance service costs.
2. Ambulance Service Billing: CLSD bills patients and their medical insurance companies for ambulance services through Wittman Enterprises. Costs depend on service level (ALS vs BLS), medical complexity, equipment required, transport vs non-transport, and mileage. District residents receive a 50% discount.
3. Donations: CLSD accepts tax-deductible donations via PayPal, check, or credit card. Donations are directed toward specific items such as paramedic training for EMTs and equipment purchases like hydraulic lift gurneys.
4. Training Course Fees: CPR/AED and first aid training is offered free of charge for instruction, with fees for optional American Heart Association certification cards ($65 single certification, $120 for both). BLS skills sessions are priced at $50 per person for 1-3 people or $30 per person for groups of 4-6.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Coast Life Support District (CLSD) is a California Special District that operates the sole 24/7 ambulance service across a 60-mile coastal stretch of southern Mendocino and northern Sonoma Counties. Beyond ambulance response, the district delivers community CPR/AED, first aid, and EMT training programs at its Bill Platt Training Center, and uses voter-approved parcel taxes to subsidize urgent care services at the local rural clinic (Redwood Coast Medical Services).

Product overview

Coast Life Support District operates as a single unified service offering centered on emergency ambulance services across a sixty-mile coastal stretch. The core service is ambulance response staffed by EMTs and paramedics, supplemented by education and training programs (CPR/AED, EMT, and First Aid courses) and collaborative healthcare programs. The District also funds urgent care services through property tax at Redwood Coast Medical Services. A tangible consumer product offered is a First Aid Kit sold directly. All services are coordinated through the main station in Gualala, CA, with the Bill Platt Training Center serving as the primary training facility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ambulance Service 24/7 emergency ambulance services staffed by highly trained EMTs and paramedics, providing life-saving emergency medical care to the sick and injured across a 60-mile coastal section of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties.
• CPR/AED Training American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR/AED training offered at three levels: classes for the lay community, for professionals requiring certification, and for medical providers, with optional First Aid component.
• BLS for Healthcare Provider Skills Session Skills practice and skills test portions of the online AHA BLS for Healthcare Provider course, conducted in person at the Bill Platt Training Center in Gualala, resulting in AHA BLS for Healthcare Provider card.
• Public Safety First Responder (Title 22) Training State of California-recognized basic level training for those charged with initial response to medical emergencies, including high-quality first aid, oxygen administration, CPR, automatic-defibrillation, wound management, and splinting.
• EMT Training Courses Emergency Medical Technician certification courses open to the community, covering skills required for professional emergency medical response.
• First Aid Training First Aid training offered through the Heartsaver First Aid/CPR/AED combined course, including essential first aid techniques for community members.
• CLSD First Aid Kit A 10" x 7" x 3" first aid kit for home, auto, or go bag containing gloves, towelettes, masks, sterile sponges, band-aids, burn cream, gauze, tweezers, shears, tape, cold packs, emergency blanket, triangle bandage, aspirin, non-aspirin, and Benadryl packets.
• Emergency Medical Information Card A reference card placed on the kitchen refrigerator door providing essential medical history, allergies, and current medications for CLSD medics to access during calls to patient homes.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Redwood Coast Medical Services (RCMS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCLSD works with RCMS, the local non-profit rural medical clinic, to fund and oversee urgent care services. RCMS currently delivers urgent care services under contract with CLSD. The nearest hospital ER is 2 hours away, making RCMS critical for local healthcare access. CLSD staff and board members collaborate with RCMS on healthcare programs.
• Community Foundation of Mendocino CountyminorOthersFunding support provided for BLS for Healthcare Provider training program at CLSD.
• Wittman EnterprisescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWittman Enterprises, Inc. is a specialized ambulance billing company that handles patient billing for CLSD emergency medical services. Patients with billing questions are directed to call 1-800-906-6552.
• NBS (National Business Services)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNBS handles tax billing administration for CLSD's EMS and urgent care parcel taxes. In cases where Mendocino County does not bill a property, NBS picks up billing directly. For questions: (800) 676-7516.
• North Sonoma Coast Fire Protection DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCLSD provides emergency response training for fire department personnel and collaborates on emergency medical services delivery within this fire protection district's boundaries.
• Coastal Valley Emergency Medical Services AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional EMS agency that establishes protocols for emergency medical services. CLSD operates under protocols established by the Local Emergency Medical Services Agency.
• Local Fire Departments (Multiple)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCLSD provides CPR/AED training to multiple fire departments including Fort Ross Volunteer Fire Department, South Coast Volunteer Fire Department, Redwood Coast Fire Protection District, and Timber Cove Fire Protection District. These partnerships ensure coordinated emergency response across the 60-mile service area.
• American Heart AssociationcoreOthersCLSD offers AHA-endorsed CPR and AED training techniques. Heartsaver CPR/AED and BLS for Healthcare Provider courses are certified through the American Heart Association.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Medical Response (AMR): The largest private ambulance operator in California and the U.S. While CLSD is public and rural-focused, AMR competes for ambulance contracts across California and represents the dominant private-sector alternative in the same regulatory environment.
• Beach Cities Health District: California Special District providing community health, EMS-related services, and senior programs. Larger and more urban than CLSD, but exercises the same Special-District, parcel-tax-funded health-services model and offers a benchmark for how a coastal California health district can scale programs.

Direct peers

• Mountain Communities Healthcare District: Another California Special District providing EMS and healthcare services in a remote, low-volume service area. Same parcel-tax funding model and similar regulatory framework as CLSD.
• Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency: California LEMSA responsible for EMS protocols and oversight in a rural region. Directly comparable in regulatory function to the agency that governs CLSD and serves a similar rural population profile.
• North Coast EMS Agency: Local Emergency Medical Services Agency (LEMSA) covering a California coastal/northern region. Comparable regulatory and protocol-setting role to the Coastal Valleys EMS Agency that oversees CLSD, with similar geography and rural-service orientation.
• Anderson Valley Health Center: A rural Mendocino County community health provider serving an isolated, low-population area with primary care and emergency support. Comparable rural-coastal California geography and a similar reliance on tax funding and community support.
• Cambria Community Healthcare District: A California Special District providing ambulance services and community health programs along a similarly remote coastal stretch (San Luis Obispo County). Structurally and operationally the closest analog to CLSD's model of legislatively created, parcel-tax-funded rural EMS.
• Mendocino Coast Healthcare District: Neighboring coastal California Special District serving the Mendocino Coast. Operates under comparable geographic-isolation and parcel-tax economics, providing a directly comparable rural-coastal healthcare delivery model.

Others

• California Special Districts Association (CSDA): Industry and advocacy association for California Special Districts including CLSD. Provides governance, training, and lobbying support and is the principal ecosystem organization for the District's governance and funding framework.
• Coastal Valleys EMS Agency: The Local EMS Agency that establishes protocols and authorizes CLSD's operations. Functions as a regulator and partner rather than competitor, but is the closest institutional peer in the EMS-system value chain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coast-life-support-district

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COAST LIFE SUPPORT DISTRICT