Data from the Travis County Emergency Services District No. 2 (ESD 2), which provides emergency response services to Pflugerville, the Wells Branch area, and unincorporated areas of Round Rock, Taylor, Hutto, and Manor, shows that the response times for the district are much higher than the state average.
Response times for emergency services are reported at the 90th percentile. To calculate the average response time, the longest 10 responses are removed from a set of 100, and the data from the remaining 90 calls is used to determine the average response times.
Travis County ESD 2’s average response time for all calls in the district is 13:30.
The response time in rural areas is even greater. The response time for the rural areas of the district is 17:04 while the response time for urban areas of the district is 12:49.
Travis County ESD 2 is a political subdivision that provides emergency services including ambulances and fire to the district. The district has a board, but the board is appointed rather than elected. The district receives both property tax and sales tax revenues from local residents to fund the operations and capital improvements for the district.
When we compare that data with the private ambulance service contracted with the city of Pflugerville, Allegiance Mobile Health, we found that Allegiance’s response times are almost 6 minutes faster. Allegiance, according to the data provided to the city, has an average response time for all calls of 7:23.
Allegiance contracted with the city of Pflugerville to provide ambulance services to the city after ESD 2 stopped providing those services to city residents in 2022.
The private provider Allegiance is more in-line with state averages and public health goals for response times.
The median response time for the state of Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, is 7 minutes.
A 2018 study in the National Library of Medicine found that “rapid ambulance response is associated with a higher rate of survival from [out-of-hospital cardiac arrest].” The study also found that there was a higher rate of resuscitation success and hospital discharge with lower response times.
This November, voters in ESD 2 will decide whether the district will keep 0.5 cent sales tax to keep providing emergency services to the district or whether those funds could be made available for other purposes.