Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

Administration

The EMS Department is comprised of fifteen full-time employees and approximately 30 part-time employees. The full time staff consists of three supervisors, six paramedics, and six EMT's. EMS runs three shifts, which rotate twenty-four hours on duty and forty-eight hours off duty. Each shift is made up of one supervisor, two paramedics, and two EMTs, staffing two trucks full-time.

Vehicles & Equipment

Alvin EMS responds to more than 5,400 calls each year and provides Mobile Intensive Care Units to the majority of the calls. The department operates 5 ambulances and 3 response cars. The ambulances are equipped with Advanced Life Support supplies including emergency medications, intravenous fluids (IV's), advanced airway equipment and cardiac monitors/defibrillators.

Mission Statement

The staff of the City of Alvin Emergency Medical Service hereby declare the motive, which impels them to unify in service for the relief of suffering and the support of our fellow man in their time of need.

As members of the City of Alvin Emergency Medical Service, we commit our knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide emergency medical service for the greater Alvin area that exceeds the needs and expectations of those who require our assistance.

We will accomplish our mission by remaining mutually committed to the support and advancement of our attributes while trusting in divine providence for the continuance of our well-being.

Emergency Medical Services Utility Fee

The City of Alvin provides advanced 911 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to its citizens and visitors. To continue offering such high-quality service, it is necessary to charge users a fee for ambulance service. Ambulance fees are established by City Ordinance and are comparable with other local emergency ambulance providers. Currently, the EMS emergency ambulance transport fees include a base fee of $1,802, a $15 per mile of transport (patient loaded) and a "no transport" fee of $175.

The City's Emergency Medical Services Ordinance previously allowed residents and commercial businesses to subsidize the cost of maintaining EMS operations in the City by voluntarily contributing a minimum donation to the EMS Fund on a monthly basis. About 44% of residents participated in this program at some point, but not every month. In return, for those who voluntarily contributed, the City would waive ambulance transport fees, not covered by a 3rd party insurance carrier.

After assessing the EMS Fund for the past several years, it has been determined that the voluntary donations are not sufficient to curb the net operating losses that the EMS Fund has incurred over the past few years - primarily due to the reduction in the receipt of private and public insurance payments, the reduction in the number of transports, and the increased cost of daily operations.

On Thursday, September 5, 2019, City Council amended the City's Comprehensive Fee Ordinance to establish an EMS Utility Fee, which will be added to the monthly water bill beginning October 1, 2019. The new EMS Utility Fee will be required, and it will take the place of the "minimum voluntary and elective contribution" that had previously been offered.

The EMS program will use the revenue from the mandatory EMS Utility Fee to offset the operating cost of maintaining an EMS program in the City. In return, per the amended City Ordinance, the City will waive emergency ambulance transport fees not covered by a third-party insurance carrier.

• Residents (a person who lives in the City Limits) - $7 per month (covers every family member who resides in the home)
• Apartment Complex or mobile home park serviced by a master meter (per each occupied unit) - $6 per month
• Commercial businesses - $10 per month
• Non-Residents (a person who lives outside the City Limits) - $144 per year