A Denver city councilman is asking for a review of the ambulance system amid a television station's report that a shortage of ambulances, a lack of staff, and repeat calls from people who don't really have an emergency are producing ambulance delays from Denver Health Medical Center.

But Denver's KMGH-TV says the head of Denver Health's emergency response system insists that the system is operating properly.

Denver Health's contract with the city pledges to have an ambulance arrive less than 9 minutes after a 911 emergency call. The city has accepted Denver Health's pledge to meet that goal 85 percent of the time.

But the station's two-month review of documents obtained under state open-records laws show paramedics failed to meet the goal 12 percent of the time, or on 1,100 calls.

Some 88 calls exceeded 20 minutes.