Fort Worth\u2019s emergency medical services has seen drops in response times and ambulance use after bringing those services in-house, but long hours and workload continue to make it difficult to recruit and retain EMTs, city officials said.<\/p>\n
For the quarter through June, ambulance use dropped 28%, emergency travel times decreased 23.4%, and nonemergency travel times saw a 24% drop compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, said James Horton, the city\u2019s interim fire chief, during a meeting of the Fort Worth City Council\u2019s public safety committee Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Overall response time on emergency calls is down by approximately two minutes, and nonemergency calls are down approximately five minutes, Horton said. It\u2019s been just over a year since the city moved EMS services into the fire department from MedStar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do believe we’ve made great strides in system improvement and providing services to the citizens of Fort Worth,\u201d Horton said.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s goal for the new EMS branch was to respond to 90% of emergency calls in under 8 minutes. The new EMS fell short late last year at 11:09 minutes, but recently hit 8:55 between April and June, Horton said.<\/p>\n
Through two recruiting classes in the last fiscal year, the fire department has hired and credentialed 114 EMTs and paramedics, but it has an attrition rate of 20% over the same period, having lost 85 employees, Horton said.<\/p>\n
Of the 543 EMS staff positions as of July 1, only 507 are filled, or 93.4% staffed, leaving 36 vacancies. But Horton said the number of vacancies has risen to about 45 since. Thirty-three EMTs will start Oct. 1 to cover staffing until recruiting starts in the fall, Horton said.<\/p>\n
The fire department is continuing to take steps to improve on long hours and workload.<\/p>\n