Port Arthur reviews EMS operations, response-time metrics and contract options

Port Arthur City Council on Aug. 7 heard a detailed workshop on emergency medical services that described how the city’s call-handling process and data systems affect published response-time figures and examined contract options ahead of the current provider’s November contract expiration.

The discussion, led by Marcin Nasoor, the assigned EMS battalion chief, and a representative of the current EMS provider, centered on three points: how the city’s public safety answering point (PSAP) and private ambulance dispatch processes start and record response-time clocks; whether response time alone is a sufficient measure of system performance; and operational options the council could consider, including colocating ambulances in fire stations and asking the city to run dispatch.

Nasoor told the council the Port Arthur Fire Department is a “first responder” organization with cross-trained personnel who begin care at many medical scenes before a transporting EMS unit assumes custody. He said more than half of the department’s call volume is EMS-related and urged the council to consider outcomes and clinical quality alongside response-time numbers. “Response time can be a useful tool,” Nasoor said. “It is not the whole picture.”

Why it matters: Council members said they want reliable, auditable data to measure contractor performance and…