While EMS negotiates pay, some benefits come in the city's new budget

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Travis County Emergency Management Services is missing 151 people.

That's according to the chief, Robert Luckritz, who addressed city council members this week during budget discussions.

The union said it's part of what's led to long waits for ambulances at times.

ATCEMS Association president Selena Xie, said another major contributing factor is low pay.

The association is still currently negotiating contracts for next year, which has been going on for months and even gotten contentious at times, with one employee even quitting.

Xie, Luckritz, and Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter said some items in the city's recently passed budget may help with staffing.

One amendment proposed by Alter improves the billing and health records system for ATCEMS. Currently, she said there's a backlog in bills that could free up millions of dollars.

"The goal is for the billing revenue to help us to provide incentives for recruitment and retention," Alter said.

She said the amendment doesn't specify how exactly that revenue would be used, but directs the city manager and EMS chief to come up with that structure.

"Our EMS professionals, sworn and unsworn, are working really hard, and we need to find ways to pay them more," she said.

Alison also co-sponsored an amendment to fund EMS simulation training, which she believes will speed up the hiring, training and promotion of medics.

Right now, Luckritz explained, staff need experience with specific scenarios to go solo in the field. They wait for those to occur in the community. Having a simulation training lets them experience that on EMS' own training schedule, he said.

"Having this equipment will allow us to hire more quickly move people through the ranks more quickly and provide higher level skills to our medics," Alter said.

KXAN's Tahera Rahman will have more on this story on KXAN News @ 6 p.m.