On Tuesday, the Fort Worth City Council voted to absorb EMS services into the city’s fire department, taking on hundreds of new employees as MedStar ceases…
On Tuesday, the Fort Worth City Council voted to absorb EMS services into the city’s fire department, taking on hundreds of new employees as MedStar ceases operations.Medstar is dissolving due to financial difficulties after providing EMS for Fort Worth in 1986. The city has been considering alternatives to MedStar since the fall, using a consultant to explore multiple options before bringing EMS into the fire department.
“We’re very proud of the fact that the city has entrusted the Fort Worth Fire Department with this mission,” said Jim Davis, Fire Chief for the city of Fort Worth. “We’re up to that task, and we look forward to working with our new partners.”The fire chief told NBC5 that many of these employees have worked alongside city staff for years.
“The idea of bringing them into our organization and embedding them into our organization should not be seen as some crazy, outside-the-box novel concept,” Davis said.While the fire department already has employed some paramedics as part of its fire engine teams, the department hasn’t had the amount of equipment MedStar maintained - or their ambulances.“If all the member cities can agree then the system's assets would actually come with the change in conditions,” Davis said.
The city expected it to take 12 to 18 months to fully complete the transition of EMS services from MedStar to the fire department. NBC 5 contacted MedStar to respond to the city’s approval to shift services from their company to the fire department’s responsibility.
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