Is it time for an EMS station in Manor?
News 8 Austin—August 31st, 2009
Manor is a small, two-water-tower-town just east of Austin. It’s home to about 5,000 people.
Norma Ortiz and her husband have called Manor home for two years.
“When you live in a small town we really are being neglected by everybody else,” Ortiz said.
During her time in Manor, she’s had to call 911 twice — once for her husband and once for her grandson.
Both times Manor Police Department showed up in a just a few minutes, followed by Manor’s Fire Department.
“And then after a good while, a good while, the ambulance then came in,” Ortiz said.
One reason it took so long for the ambulance is that the closest Austin-Travis County EMS station is in Austin, seven miles away.
“It would be about 12 minutes, the soonest that ambulance could get to the downtown area of Manor,” the president of the Austin-Travis County EMS Union, Steve Stewart, said.
It should, according to the EMS union, take an ambulance only 8-9 minutes to respond to a Priority 1 call.
“Unless you really need us, four minutes isn’t really a big deal, but on the type of calls where you’re having a heart attack or having a stroke, four minutes can make a big difference,” Stewart said.
According to the union, it’s up the City of Manor and the Emergency Service District to pay for a place to house an ambulance.
The union says so far they’re getting ignored. According to the union, the reason is nobody seems to have the money to pay for it.
“I hope that people could see the writing on the wall and decide to solve the issue before we get to the point that it causes someone their life,” Stewart said.
But for now, Ortiz knows if she has to call for an ambulance she’ll get one “eventually.”
Many are worried one day “eventually” will be too late.