There’s a chicken and egg debate brewing over Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting.
It’s a decision over whether to go forward with an automatic aid agreement between Austin Fire, Travis County EDSs and Williamson County agencies.
The deal would send the closest firefighters to cover any emergency, regardless of city limits, which would speed up the response times.
The question right now is whether coordinated dispatch and operating systems should come first.
“If I’m having a heart attack, I don’t care what patch is on that sleeve,” said Austin’s Fire Chief Joel Baker.
Its been a back-and-forth battle between Austin’s fire leaders and its labor union.
“There are many reasons to make sure we get it at the front end,” said Austin Fire Association President Bob Nicks.