These times are about 30 seconds slower than those reported by MedStar, Fort Worth\u2019s former third-party ambulance provider, in the year before the city took over its operations, according to city estimates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Response times reflect the time between the first ambulance\u2019s dispatch and its arrival on scene. In October, when Fort Worth\u2019s fire chief suddenly resigned over alleged disagreements about firefighter safety<\/a> with the firefighters\u2019 union, the union leader said the chief failed to recognize acceptable on-scene times for EMS and fire response.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fire department officials maintain that the lagging response times are temporary growing pains as first responders get used to new systems and leadership fine-tunes procedures. Already, they\u2019ve rolled out some changes in an effort to improve times, such as having ambulances dispatched from locations across the city rather than from one central spot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was never meant to be a quick \u2018July 1, boom, the light switch has been flipped, and now everything\u2019s gonna change,\u2019\u201d fire department spokesperson Craig Trojacek said. \u201cThe light switch has been flipped, but now we\u2019re figuring out what we can change to improve it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Response time averages for all high-priority emergency calls over the four months sit at 6 minutes, 43 seconds. The 90th percentile is the time which 90% of calls fall under.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The city initiated the creation of its EMS system after a consulting firm found MedStar was financially unsustainable<\/a> and too inefficient to keep up with Fort Worth\u2019s population growth and increased demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n The takeover transition took about two years, and it\u2019s since been publicly applauded by City Council as having gone smoothly, even amid former Fire Chief Jim Davis\u2019<\/a> resignation.<\/p>\n Since ambulance operators, police officers and firefighters are now all city operated, they are able to be managed under the same dispatch and communication systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n This should streamline and speed up emergency response, said Dr. Jeffrey Jarvis, a former MedStar official who now works for the city. Jarvis is Fort Worth\u2019s medical director<\/a> and oversees medical practice within the city\u2019s first response systems.<\/p>\n He said more responders and resources showing up at an emergency scene directly lead to higher rates of survival. So, having firefighters and EMS training and working in coordination should lead to an overall better service for those in need.<\/p>\n Achieving those expected improvements requires \u201cmore of a marathon than a sprint,\u201d Trojacek said, noting that it takes time to identify and fix systemic weaknesses.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really doing a lot of good things and improving but, from the outside looking in, it doesn\u2019t look that way,\u201d Trojacek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city\u2019s EMS branch costs about $89.2 million annually<\/a>. In this fiscal year, about $65 million of that will be covered by expected revenue from billing insurance and patients. Another $1.7 million will come from the 14 smaller cities around Fort Worth receiving the ambulance services.<\/p>\n That leaves the city covering the outstanding $19.5 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n Does your city receive Fort Worth\u2019s ambulance services?<\/p>\n Fort Worth provides EMS services to the following cities, which pay Fort Worth depending on their usage.<\/p>\n At the time of publishing, the fire department had only audited October\u2019s response times, meaning they\u2019ve double-checked that the first responder\u2019s self-reported times are accurate. Its 90th percentile was 11:02 minutes.<\/p>\n When EMTs respond to a call, they are supposed to track when they are \u201con scene.\u201d Occasionally, some forget or run into connection issues, leading to inaccurately reported response times, Davis told the Report in August.<\/p>\n An audit of response times could reduce reported times by an estimated 45 seconds to a minute, EMS admin officer Heath Stone told the Report.<\/p>\n Stone is confident the response times will improve as the fire department works to fill vacant EMT positions and streamline practices \u2014 things they could only start doing after the July transition, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n As an example, he pointed to the new practice of dispatching ambulances from all 45 fire stations across the city. Until Nov. 1, ambulances were dispatched from one central location.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also this month, 92 new single- and dual-role first responders graduated from their classes to fill the ranks, Trojacek said. That means more help on ambulances, which can improve response times, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n It took several months to fill new jobs, as applicants need to go through paperwork, licensing and training, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t just say we need 45 more people, and we\u2019ve got 45 more people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s months to get to that point to have that test, and then months to process that test, and then months for those people who want to do the process to get their certifications.\u201d<\/p>\n Jarvis said he\u2019s proud of how Fort Worth approached the transition as more of a \u201cmerge\u201d with MedStar than a \u201chostile takeover.\u201d Preserving some of MedStar\u2019s culture and staff within the city was important to the branch\u2019s success, he said.<\/p>\n Over 600 former MedStar employees, mostly EMTs, joined the fire department.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you take two different families and make them one, there are some growing pains, but we\u2019re working through those,\u201d Jarvis said.<\/p>\n Jarvis made the transition to Fort Worth because he\u2019s optimistic that it will, eventually, serve the communities well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an opportunity to do this right and be a model for how fire-based EMS \u2014 and how EMS in general \u2014 can really serve their communities well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @shawlings601<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n\n
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MedStar employee James Ward is sworn into the Fort Worth Fire Department on May 23, 2025, at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex as the city transitions to providing in-house emergency medical services. (Drew Shaw | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
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