Austin-Travis EMS temporary pilot program could free up ambulances
AUSTIN (KXAN) — In a document obtained by KXAN, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said that the agency continues “to innovate and challenge the status quo of EMS deployment” but that its current mode of operations are “not sustainable.”
“The department has become increasingly dependent on the use of overtime, on-call pay, and calling employees into work on their days off. As the department approaches full staffing, this model is not sustainable,” he wrote.
Luckritz explained in the document that a temporary program will be piloted to alleviate pressure on emergency service.
“This pilot approach safeguards the essential work our Non-Ambulance Operational staff perform such as academy training, continuing education, and mental health response while ensuring 911 operations are adequately supported to ensure ATCEMS sends the right resource, to the right patient, at the right time while operating within budget,” he wrote.
Under the “Advanced Life Support Squads” program, ATCEMS will use more “single paramedic responder vehicles” instead of ambulances on most calls. Single responder vehicles are faster than an ambulance, but can’t transport patients.
These units “will respond to 911 calls that report low-intensity injuries and high-priority calls if already nearby. This will prevent “unnecessary ambulance utilization,” according to the document.
“[ATCEMS] has recognized that ambulances are not the most appropriate resources for many the 911 calls they receive,” Luckritz wrote. “As the department grows, staff believe these types of units, alongside other specialty units, will serve as a better growth solution than additional advanced life support ambulances.”
If the test run is a success, ATCEMS will evaluate the possibility of permanently adopting it.
According to the document, ATCEMS has opened seven new stations in the past six years and made another station operate around the clock. It also has reduced its open positions to 88 vacancies as of April.
