By Christine Stanley
The San Antonio Express-News
CASTLE HILLS, Texas — Castle Hills residents could be billed soon for all emergency medical technician calls that don’t warrant further assistance.
Council members discussed the move Sept. 8 but tabled a vote until next month.
The $60 fee would help cover the cost of EMT supplies and a new emergency medical response vehicle for the Castle Hills Fire Department.
The city currently bills Castle Hills residents $55 for any second and subsequent EMT service call after the first call to the same location in a calendar year.
In an hour-long, heated debate last week, Councilman Douglas Gregory said there’s a vital distinction between EMT and EMS service.
Castle Hills Fire Department EMTs are automatically dispatched to homes, businesses or motor vehicle accidents any time a person places a call, usually to 9-1-1, that could warrant medical help in their coverage area. Dispatchers also get EMS providers, or ambulance services, on their way to the scene as well.
But not all of those calls are severe enough to require attention by an EMS provider. Historically, about half of all emergency medical assistance calls in Castle Hills have been resolved by local fire department EMTs, Fire Chief Gerald Riedel said.
The city is looking for a way to recoup the cost of those EMT calls. Councilwoman Marcella Huff recommended charging residents for EMT service only if they don’t require further attention from an EMS provider.
This would avoid double billing, because the city’s ambulance provider would charge residents for their services on top of the EMT fee.
EMS charges are covered by Medicare and private insurance, but EMT fees are not, Councilman Tom Davis said. Davis was against EMT fees for all calls before agreeing with Huff’s compromise, originally characterizing the fees as “a tax on the elderly and infirm.”
“Folks, $60 for an EMT call? You can’t go to the doc-in-the-box down on Broadway for that,” Councilman Bruce Smiley-Kaliff said. “That’s one heck of a service for living in Castle Hills.”
Council also voted to switch the city’s ambulance provider Sept. 8. As part of the new pact, Acadian Ambulance Service will restock the fire department’s medical supplies if EMTs use them before Acadian gets on the scene.
Castle Hills began looking for another ambulance service in May due to the steadily rising costs of contracting with San Antonio EMS.
Castle Hills has contracted with San Antonio EMS for the past 25 years, but their rates have gone up “substantially” over the past few years, Riedel said.
Acadian will cover the city for about $70,000 - $186,000 less than what San Antonio proposed charging for next year’s coverage.
Councilman Steve McGuire said average response times might go up from 10 minutes to 12 minutes, but, from a medical standpoint, that should have a “minimal to non-existent impact on our citizens.”
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