LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 2, 2001
TO: Honorable Bob Turner, Chair, House Committee on Public
Safety
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB3312 by Dunnam (Relating to establishing a pilot
program for state emergency medical dispatch resource
centers.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB3312, As Introduced: positive impact of $0 through the biennium *
* ending August 31, 2003. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 0 *
* 2005 0 *
* 2006 0 *
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All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Change in Number of State *
* Year Advisory Commission on Employees from FY 2001 *
* Emergency Communications *
* Account/ GR-Dedicated *
* 5007 *
* 2002 $0 0.0 *
* 2003 0 0.0 *
* 2004 (4,257,490) 0.0 *
* 2005 (4,257,490) 0.0 *
* 2006 (3,867,490) 0.0 *
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Technology Impact
Acquisition of call-taking consoles as well as cost of public safety
answering point (PSAP) telecommunication links with the proposed
Emergency Medical Dispatch Resource Center(s). Unit cost of a
call-taking console is $39,000. The cost of ring-down circuits and
1-800 services for PSAP access is an estimated $1,666 per month.
Fiscal Analysis
The proposed bill requires the Texas Department of Health, in
coordination with the Commission on State Emergency Communications, to
establish one or more emergency medical dispatch resource centers in
areas of the state in which public safety answering points (PSAPs) are
not adequately staffed to provide pre-arrival medical instructions.
The pilot programs is not anticipated to have a significant fiscal
impact. However, a recurring program is estimated to cost $3.8 million
each fiscal year.
Methodology
The proposed bill requires TDH to operate an emergency medical dispatch
(EMD) center, but does not specify a funding source for the EMD center.
In addition, rural PSAPs are not required to utilize the EMD center.
Under current law, all emergency and wireless service fee revenue
collections are returned to the region from which the fee was collected
and spent on 911 implementation by the regional council of government.
Although not specified, there is nothing in the bill to prohibit the TDH
from charging a cost recovery fee to participating PSAPs for each call
referred to the EMD center. However, for purposes of this analysis, it
is assumed that EMD services would be available at no cost to
participating PSAPs, and that all additional costs would be funded out of
911 equalization surcharge revenue deposited to General
Revenue-Dedicated Account No. 5007, Advisory Commission on State
Emergency Communications.
The Texas Department of Health (TDH) anticipates contracting with an
existing 9-1-1 Center (or centers) that provides emergency medical
dispatch services, including pre-arrival medical instructions, to pilot a
state emergency medical dispatch (EMD) resource center. The pilot would
last for two years, i.e., the 2002-03 biennium. During this period EMD
services would be available to a group of rural counties with a combined
population of no more than one million. TDH would review the
effectiveness of the pilot at the end of two years, and presumably make
it available to all public safety answering points.
Total estimated call volume for the pilot project is 600 calls per year,
at an average cost of $114 per call. The $114 per call cost consists of
the following: call-taker staff, quality assurance, administrative
oversight, cost of retaining audiotapes for the required seven year
retention period. The additional cost associated with establishing a
telecommunications link between the EMD resource center and rural PSAPs
is assumed to be $1,666 per month. Finally, it is expected that any
existing 9-1-1 center contracted to provide EMD services would require an
additional call-taking console to handle calls forwarded from rural
PSAPs. A fully equipped call-taking console costs an estimated $39,000
per unit. The total cost estimate for the pilot project is $175,100.
Currently rural PSAPs in the statewide 9-1-1 system that receive less
than 24 calls a day receive 675,000 calls per year. Of this amount, an
estimated 20 to 30 percent represent medical emergencies. Assuming
one-quarter of these rural PSAPs choose to refer medical calls for
life-saving and other emergency medical prearrival instructions, the EMD
resource center call volume would be approximately 33,750 calls per
year. This would result in an estimated recurring cost of $3.8 million
beginning in fiscal year 2004. It is assumed that a call volume of this
magnitude would require the EMD resource center(s) to acquire ten to
twenty call-taking consoles. This represents a one-time cost of
$390,000 to $780,000.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated. The Texas Department of Health (TDH) anticipates
contracting with a 9-1-1 Center that provides emergency medical dispatch
services, including pre-arrival medical instructions, to act as a state
emergency medical dispatch (EMD) resource center.
Those 9-1-1 Centers operated by local governments that provide
pre-arrival medical instructions could compete to provide emergency
medical dispatch services for other 9-1-1 entities located in rural
Texas, and if successful in competing for the contract, receive
reimbursement for any emergency medical dispatch calls processed for
other localities.
Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 477
Commission on State Emergency Communications, 501
Texas Department of Health
LBB Staff: JK, JC, ZS, MF