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AUSTIN – TRAVIS COUNTY EMS ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, May 5, 2021 The Austin – Travis County EMS Advisory Board convened on May 5, 2021, in Austin, Texas at 9:30 a.m. Board Members in Attendance: Tracy Dalbosco, John Villanacci, Janice Bray, Jerry Staton, Shandel Milburn, April Geruso, Tim Ruttan, Tim Mercer, Dave Williams CALL TO ORDER – The meeting called to order at 9:40 a.m. RECEIVE CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS/COMMENTS – None 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion: The minutes for the regular meeting of February 4, 2021 approved on a motion by Board Member Villanacci and seconded by Board Member Milburn on a 9-0 vote. 2. RECOGNITION OF SERVICE: Christopher Ziebell and Lisa Harris Jasper presented awards, that will be mailed out, to two former board members and gave thanks and appreciation for their service. Lisa Harris served on the board from 2015-2020. Christopher Ziebell served on the board from 2012-2020. 3. WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS: Tim Mercer and Dave Williams A welcome was extended to new members. 4. UPDATE OF FY22 EMS BUDGET  FY 2021 Totals at a Glance  FY 2021 Approved Budget - $102.0 million  FY 2021 Positions – Sworn: 643, Civilians: 81.5  FY2021 Sources – Tax Supported: 62.4%, Fees: 37.6%  Program Budget Highlights o 14 Additional Sworn FTEs for Community Health Paramedic EMCOT Initiative o 12 New FTEs for New Travis Country EMS/AFD Station o (2) 24 Hour Ambulances – 24 New Sworn FTEs o 8 New Clinical Specialist for C4 – Consult Line o 5 New Commanders (District Command 7) o 4 New Communications Clinical Specialist o 5 New Administrative Staff Positions o 24/72 Schedule  FY 2022 Forecast  Forecast Budget - $106.3 million estimated  FY 2022 Positions – Sworn: 655, Civilians: 81.5  FY 2022 Revenue – 35.8 million  EMS Forecast Highlights  o Personnel Cost Drivers o 12 New Sworn FTEs for Loop360 Station o Interfund Transfers o Contract Increases o Operating Increases o Remove one-time funding $4.1M $408K $527K $91K $138K ($961K) o Total o *Estimate: The FY2022 Budget is still under development, pending City Council $4.3M* or 4.2% approval.  Budget Items Under Review o Program Leadership Enhancements - $962K o Assistant Chief (1) o Division Chiefs (3) o Communications Commanders (2) o Phasing in FTEs to standardize staffing levels at all stations (12 FTEs per station) - o Community Relations and Injury Prevention Investment - $232K  City of Austin Budget Timline o Policy Input & Forecasting: January – April (Community Forums/Boards and $3.6M Commissions) o Budge Development: May – June (Council Town Hall Meetings) o Council Deliberation & Adoption: July – August (Public Hearings and Community Engagement)  Questions for Jasper o Board Member John Villanacci – How many schedules does EMS run? Jasper’s response: Two schedules – 1) 24/72 shift and 2) 12-hour shift 9:30am-9:30pm with every other weekend off, two days on two days off, three days on three days off. Communications staff does the same 12-hour shift except from 7:00pm-7:00am. o Board Member Tim Mercer – Will one of the additional leadership positions under budget review (Assistant Chief and Division Chiefs) be dedicated to the expanded Community Health Paramedic program? Jasper response: Unknown at this time. It is possible Chief Hofmeister may be assigned to the role over Community Health and the new position will be filled in another area. No decision has been made at this time. o Board Member Dave Williams – How to you decide how to staff a new station? Is it based on demand and matching hours to the demand? Or, is or do you reach a certain demand threshold, form a new station and then the station has a fixed cost related to it? Jasper response: Station has a fixed cost. As far as planning a station, an analysis must be conducted to determine the demand in the area. o Board Member Jerry Staton – How will the reinstatement of the camping ban effect EMS’s planning for allocation of resources? Jasper response: First priority is to consider the safety of EMS personnel and consider where individuals may go and how will staff reach them. Council will present a plan tomorrow of a resolution to designate areas for camping. EMS will plan accordingly. o Board Member Tracy Dalbasco – At the beginning of COVID, EMS implemented a protocol on how medics approached patients. As everything is opening up and call volume increasing, is that creating challenges for the department? Jasper response: How medics respond for a patient identified as having COVID has not changed and will not change. Protocol 36 (Medical Priority Dispatch) pandemic card gradually turned on as COVID progressed. Effective today, as directed by the Medical Director, Protocol 36 will be turned off. EMS still triaging for infectious disease. Calls coming in classified as “Pandemic Priority” will revert to normal call types such as chest pain, respiratory, etc. EMS is starting to see more call volume as things are opening back up and anticipate for call volume in the downtown area to be very high. o Board Member Shandel Milburn – Regarding ongoing renovations at Medic 1 (S. 1st/290) and Medic 5 (Lamar/Koenig), do you have a timeline on when those additional ambulance bays will be completed? Planning/budget to staff for those bays? Will they be demand staffed or 24/72? Jasper response: Medic 1 is scheduled to start at end of May. Medic 5 has been delayed and is scheduled to start at beginning to mid-June. Completion anticipated early 2022. Staffing details are unknown at this time and will be based on results of analysis. 5. OFFICER ELECTIONS Shandel Milburn expressed interest in serving as Chair. Tracy Dalbasco expressed interest in serving as Vice Chair. Motion: Motion to elect Shandel Milburn as Chair motioned by Board Member Janice Bray and seconded by Board Member John Villanacci on 9-0 vote. Motion: Motion to Tracy Dalbasco as Vice Chair motioned by Board Member Janice Bray and seconded by Board Member John Villanacci on 9-0 vote. 6. RECEIVE UPDATES FROM SYSTEM AGENCIES REPRESENTATIVES  Medical Director’s Report: Dr. Mark Escott, Medical Director  Organizational Changes o Department now known as the Office of the Chief Medical Officer o EMS Medical Director has been reclassified as Chief Medical Officer o EMS Deputy Medical Director reclassified as Chief Deputy Medical Director (Dr. JR Pickett) o Change in reporting structure to city management – Chief Medical Officer will continue to report to Assistant City Manager Arellano for Safety for business related to EMS. Business related to strategic alignment of clinical services throughout the city will be to the Deputy City Manager (interim – Ann Morgan) o Personnel Hires/Changes Community Health  Travis Baker – Clinical Manager for Advanced Practice Providers in  Bill Leggio – Clinical Quality and Patient Safety Coordinator   Dr. Heidi Abraham – Deputy Medical Director over Telehealth and Urgent Jeff Hayes – Chief of Staff will retire December 2021 Care (starting 5/9/21)  Dr. Melissa Miller – Inaugural EMS Fellow and Assistant Medical Director (starting 7/1/21) will be in fellowship for 1 year  Vacancy postings will go live next week  Austin EMS Department: Jasper Brown, Assistant Chief  EMS Staffing o Authorized Strength  643 Sworn FTEs (12 sworn FTEs become available June 2021, 12 sworn FTEs become available July 2021)  534 Current sworn FTEs  109 Current vacancies  23 Cadets in current Academy (graduate May 7, 2021) o Next Academy – July 19, 2021 (24-40 cadets) depending on room and current guidelines o Kerri Lang – EMS Assistant Director of Administration & Finance is currently acting as Interim Budget Officer. Carlos Ledesma will be acting in her EMS position starting 5/10/21  Questions for Jasper o Board Member Tracy Dalbasco: Considering the department ran into some challenges during the ice storm, does the department plan to do any reporting on that or is there any additional resources the department may need? Jasper response: We are in the process of creating an after action report. The association has already provided a similar report they received from their personnel. The department is meeting with EMS staff and Office of the Chief Medical Officer. Hope to have a completed report by mid-June. We do know that we will need to purchase tire chains for some vehicles. o Board Member David Williams: Do you know who will fill Chief Rodriguez’s position as interim when he leaves? Jasper’s response: The City Manager has appointed me as Interim EMS Chief o Board Member Tracy Dalbasco: I have a question about over time and the use of the accumulative list. I have heard grumblings of staff being called at the end of their shifts and being assigned overtime appointments for the following day or the day after their second day off already getting an overtime assignment. Jasper response: We are using a 6-days out accumulative list, which started 3 weeks ago. Using this list we look at staffing 6 days out and if additional staff is needed we run the accumulative list which is personnel from the least amount of hours worked of extra hours, not regular hours, to the highest and we work through that list from the bottom up.  Travis County Emergency Services: Ashley Liebeg, County Executive  Vaccine operations from COTA are moving to the Expo Center starting this weekend.  FY22 budget for request for EMS interlocal has been submitted and is approximately $1.5  In conversation with ESD2 in the City of Pflugerville regarding a provision of EMS and million higher than FY21. Pflugerville and its ETJ.  Austin Fire Department: Rob Vires, Chief of Staff – left meeting earlier  Emergency Services Districts: David Wilson, CAFCA President (Not present) 7. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS  Review and discuss a few measures from the dashboard each meeting.  Legislative Update – discuss any legislation that has passed that would impact EMS  Camping Ban Update – Andy Hofmeister  Equity Study – Mark Escott 8. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.