What's happening
Several public safety issues and funding items are under review as city officials consider their priorities in Austin's proposed fiscal year 2024-25 budget.
Among those is an initiative that's stationed ATCEMS staff at ABIA to respond to any medical calls there. The staffing update was made to keep medics in the airport in case of emergencies, and to maintain regular EMS service in the surrounding area.
“Yes, this is about serving people who are at the airport, but it is also about making sure that the ambulances that are in service that are at the stations that we’re funding with our tax dollars are able to serve the residents of Austin—primarily in District 2 where they get pulled, but when they get pulled from District 2 to the airport, there’s a knock-on effect elsewhere,” council member Alison Alter said July 31.
The AUS Medics program began in March 2023 and has responded to nearly 1,700 incidents since then, according to ATCEMS.
EMS spokesperson Christa Stedman said that getting medics to a patient within a matter of minutes has reduced the department's response times to ABIA by half while also keeping EMS resources available for Austinites overall.
"Traveling to and from Austin requires a significant investment in time and money for most people, and nobody likes having to deal with unexpected interruptions to their travel plans," she said. "Unfortunately, we don’t get to schedule when medical emergencies occur. Having dedicated paramedics on-site at [ABIA] benefits both patients at the airport as well as those in the surrounding communities."
Diving in deeper
The EMS staffing update has also affected how treatment at the airport plays out.
Previously, medics responding to ABIA calls had experienced high rates of patients refusing care during an incident. Now, EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said the on-site alternative to ambulance service can resolve issues more quickly, especially for more minor flight-related issues like anxiety.
"Perhaps the most impactful example came last year, when AUS Medics were waiting for an elevator in the terminal, and someone suffered a sudden cardiac arrest right in front of them," Stedman said. "The crew was able to immediately provide that patient with critical advanced life support care within a few seconds of the event and successfully resuscitated the patient."
What's next
The medic program currently only staffs ABIA during peak hours of 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and hasn't had a budget impact on EMS so far given airport funding.
City officials are now considering whether to support more medic positions with a goal of reaching 24/7 staffing, potentially through additional charges to airlines.
Stedman said that reaching that expanded level of service would be a "difficult task" even with more staff positions. Two additional positions would strengthen current coverage, she said, but five more medics would be needed for 24/7 operations.
City and EMS officials are working on a plan to maintain necessary services at ABIA. However, Assistant City Manager Robert Goode said airlines may be more cautious on new spending this year given other impacts from the expansion program underway.
“Everything about the budget for the aviation department’s being scrubbed by the airlines this time around because our expansion program is already hitting them, and so they’re really scrutinizing our budget," Goode said. "That’s why aviation staff is being very careful about what we’re proposing to pass on to the airlines because they’re more sensitive than usual. We’re trying to find a happy medium that the airlines would support, and it would provide better service for EMS there as well."
