The Pflugerville Fire Department is taking steps toward providing additional ambulance services, which fire officials say will lead to quicker response times for medical emergencies.
The board of commissioners for the PFD, also known as Travis County ESD No. 2, approved a strategic plan in August that calls for implementing Advanced Life Support, or ALS, services through several phases within the next five years. On Oct. 8, the board is expected to adopt the fiscal year 2016 budget and tax rate, which sets aside funding for the strategic plan.
Fast-paced growth and an uptick in emergency calls in the area have caused a severe strain in ambulance services provided by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, according to the strategic plan.
“Currently both ambulances stationed in our District are out of station, (assigned to other calls or not available for service) over 40% of the times when another EMS emergency is occurring,” the strategic plan reads. “In those cases, another ambulance from outside this area is required to respond, increasing critical response time.”
Austin-Travis County EMS has held a longstanding contract with the PFD, which serves roughly 100 square miles in northeastern Travis County. Roughly half of the more than 97,000 residents in the service area live in Pflugerville.
The strategic plan states that the PFD would eventually double the number of ambulances immediately available within the district under its contract with Austin-Travis County EMS.
Anthony Marquardt, president of the Austin-Travis County EMS Association, attended the second of two public hearings on the PFD budget and tax rate.