24-R-144 Interlocal Agreement for Allocation Emergency Medical Services, Mutual Aid Caldwell County ESD #5RESOLUTION 24-R-144
A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN INTERLOCAL
AGREEMENT FOR ALLOCATION OF EMERGENCY
MEDICAL SERVICES AND FOR A MUTUAL AID
AGREEMENT WITH CALDWELL COUNTY ESD #5
AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION
THEREWITH
WHEREAS, the Schertz EMS Department provides Emergency Medical Services to the citizens in
our service area; and
WHEREAS, Schertz EMS holds the EMS contract for Guadalupe County; and
WHEREAS, Schertz EMS has the need to allocate parts of the Guadalupe County EMS
contract with other EMS agencies; and
WHEREAS, it is a benefit to both Schertz EMS and Caldwell County ESD #5 to enter into an
interlocal and mutual aid agreement;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SCHERTZ, TEXAS THAT:
Section 1. The City Council hereby authorizes the City Manager to enter into an
interlocal agreement with Caldwell County ESD #5 as outlined in Exhibit A.
Section 2. The recitals contained in the preamble hereof are hereby found to be true,
and such recitals are hereby made a part of this Resolution for all purposes and are
adopted as a part of the judgment and findings of the City Council.
Section 3. All resolutions, or parts thereof, which are in conflict or inconsistent with
any provision of this Resolution are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict, and
the provisions of this Resolution shall be and remain controlling as to the matters
resolved herein.
Section 4. This Resolution shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the
laws of the State of Texas and the United States of America.
Section 5. If any provision of this Resolution or the application thereof to any person
or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this Resolution and the
application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall nevertheless be
valid, and the City Council hereby declares that this Resolution would have been
enacted without such invalid provision.
Section 6. It is officially found, determined, and declared that the meeting at which
this Resolution is adopted was open to the public and public notice of the time, place,
and subject matter of the public business to be considered at such meeting, including
this Resolution, was given, all as required by Chapter 551, Texas Government Code,
as amended.
Section 7. This Resolution shall be in force and effect from and after its final passage,
and it is so resolved.
PASSED AND ADOPTED, this I k-day of 024.
CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
Ra# Gutie , Mayor
ATTEST:
Sheila Edmondso , City Secretary
Exhibit "A"
Interlocal Agreement
INTERLOCALAGREEMENT
FOR ALLOCATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
AND FOR MUTUAL AID
STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF GUADALUPE
This Interlocal Agreement for Allocation of Emergency Medical Services and for Mutual
Aid (this "Agreement"), is between the City of Schertz, Texas ("Schertz"), and Caldwell County
ESD #5, Texas ("ESD #5"), and shall be effective as of January 1, 2025, for the term stated below.
Schertz and ESD #5 shall hereafter collectively be referred to as "the Cities" or "the Parties."
WHEREAS, Schertz desires to provide emergency medical services to the unincorporated
areas of Guadalupe County (the "County") and is entering into an lnterlocal Agreement for
Emergency Medical Services with the County to provide said services (the "County EMS
Agreement") which is to be effective on the same effective date of this Agreement; and
WHEREAS, for purposes of facilitating the County EMS Agreement, Schertz desires to
allocate between Schertz and the Caldwell County ESD #5 coverage area, fees, personnel,
equipment and other obligations of the County EMS Agreement in exchange for mutual covenants
and other consideration hereinafter provided;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Cities/Parties, acting by and through their duly authorized
officers, hereby covenant and agree as follows:
Section 1. Responsibilities of ESD #5.
(a) During the term of this Agreement, ESD #5 agrees to furnish emergency medical services
("EMS") to the unincorporated areas of the County as described on the map attached
hereto as Exhibit "A" ("Service Area").
(b) ESD #5 shall respond to all calls for emergency medical assistance and emergency medical
transport and advanced life support service with mobile intensive care unit capability
(MICU) within the Service Area. ESD #5's MICU units will be staffed with a minimum
of one paramedic (preferably with two paramedics) at all times.
(c) ESD #5 agrees that during the term of the Agreement, they shall use any available EMS
resource to respond to all requests for service on a next -available -ambulance basis
regardless of call location within the ESD #5 coverage area.
(d) ESD #5 agrees to use every effort possible to maintain an average monthly response time
of thirteen (13) minutes on responses not to include cancellations, transfers, standbys or un-
safe scenes in which law enforcement must make the scene safe prior to entry. Response
time shall be defined as the period of time starting when an ESD #5
ambulance is notified of an emergency response and ending when an ambulance arrives on
location of the emergency.
(e) Schertz and the County shall arrange for all requests for assistance within the Service Area
to be sent directly to ESD #5 by 911-telephone transfer or by the County alerting ESD
#5 via agreed radio frequency. Such dispatch services shall be redundant and use
mechanisms as provided by the Bexar Metro 911 District.
(f) ESD #5 agrees to transport patients to their facilities of choice if their medical condition
allows based on their policies and protocols. If the patient condition prevents this, the
patient should be transported to the closest most appropriate facility.
(g) ESD #5 agrees to maintain a Medical Director as required by the Texas Department of
State Health Services (DSHS). Any change in Medical Director shall be reported in
writing to Schertz within ten (10) business days.
(h) ESD #5 will maintain Mutual Aid agreements with multiple agencies, including Schertz,
to provide for appropriate responses during times of high call volume or multiple casualty
incidents.
(i) ESD #5 agrees to coordinate and respond with all Guadalupe County First Responders
including Medical Direction, coordination of responses, and re -supplying of medical
supplies used on emergency medical responses.
(j) ESD #5 shall observe and comply with all applicable federal, state, county and local laws,
rules, ordinances, and regulations which in any manner affect the provision of the
services described in this Agreement and shall perform such services in a professional
manner in accordance with standard emergency medical services practice.
(k) ESD #5 agrees to maintain insurance on its equipment, vehicles, and personnel in the
amounts required by the Texas Department of State Health Services for EMS Provider
Licensing. Any changes in coverage will be reported in writing to Schertz within ten (10)
days of such change becoming effective.
(1) ESD #5 agrees to provide Schertz with ESD #5's run statistics for responses in the Service
Area. These reports shall provide Schertz with the number of calls, location of calls,
transports, response times, and type of call (medical/trauma) in the Service Area. These
reports shall be sent to Schertz each month before the 5th dais of the following month. Due
to patient privacy considerations, reports containing specific protected health information
as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and other
applicable laws shall not be made available to Schertz without the appropriate written
consent of the patient or the patient's authorized representative or without a specific court
order.
(m) ESD #5 agrees to indemnify Schertz to the extent allowed by law for all actions of ESD
#5 in connection with carrying out the responsibilities of ESD #5 under this Agreement.
(n) It is expressly understood that in the performance of the obligations under this Agreement,
each party is an independent contractor with the right to supervise, manage, control, and
direct the provision of EMS calls to which it is responding.
Section 2. Responsibilities of Schertz.
(a) Schertz agrees to conduct, at a minimum, biannual meetings with all sub -contractors
to discuss service level, customer service issues, and other issues as brought forward
by the County Emergency Services Administrator. Any customer service issues
brought to Schertz regarding service provided by ESD #5 will be forwarded as soon as
possible to ESD #5 for investigation and resolution.
(b) Schertz agrees to coordinate with the Guadalupe County Emergency Management
Office on the designation of recognized County first responders and to report any
changes in this designation to ESD #5 immediately.
(c) Schertz agrees to involve ESD #5 as necessary on all EMS -related issues that occur in
the Service Area covered by ESD #5. This would include issues such as ambulance
standbys, injury prevention activities, and community education events.
(d) Schertz agrees to indemnify ESD #5 to the extent allowed by law for all actions of
Schertz in connection with carrying out the responsibilities of Schertz under this
Agreement.
Section 3. Term and Renewal.
This Agreement shall be for a term commencing with the effective date of January 1, 2025.
This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect for the full term of the County EMS
Agreement ("Term") which is three (3) years, including any extensions thereof ("Renewal
Term") provided that either ESD #5 or Schertz may terminate this Agreement as set forth in
Section 6 of this Agreement.
Section 4. Consideration.
(a) In consideration of ESD #5's provision of the Emergency Medical Services during the
Initial Term, Schertz agrees to pay ESD #5 $45,744.38 annually, payable in twelve (12)
equal monthly installments within fifteen (15) days of each month for each year of the
Initial Term.
(b) If Schertz negotiates any extension of its agreement with the County and there is any
increase or decrease of fees, Schertz shall negotiate with all sub -contractors to provide
additional consideration as outlined by Schertz's agreement with the County.
(c) Schertz retains the right to negotiate with one or more sub -contractors for the provision of
EMS to the County on an annual basis with respect to territory coverage, call volume and
other considerations so that Schertz may facilitate the highest levels of EMS service being
provided at all times throughout all areas of the County.
(d) Schertz agrees not to withhold monthly installments for any reason other than monthly
reports not being received from ESD #5 in a timely manner. Alleged failure to perform
shall be addressed in accordance with this Agreement but shall not be reason to withhold
payments.
(e) Schertz agrees that, in addition to the fee payable by Schertz to ESD #5 pursuant to Section
4(a), ESD #5 and its contracted designees will make every attempt to bill and collect from
the patient's insurance company. In no event shall Schertz or the County be responsible for
payment of such patient charges.
Section 5. Failure to Perform,
(a) ESD #5 agrees to maintain response time reliability as outlined in Section l(d). In the
event that ESD #5 fails to maintain response time reliability as outlined in Section l(d), ESD
#5 will report this fact to Schertz and a meeting will be called to discuss the circumstances
that led to this failure to perform.
(b) Schertz may, at its discretion, place ESD #5 on a ninety (90) day remediation period.
During this time, ESD #5 will provide reports as to the steps it is taking to correct the poor
performance and the current response time reliability.
(c) ESD #5 agrees to make every effort possible to fulfill their responsibilities in assisting Schertz
in maintaining compliance with the County's expectations as outlined by this Agreement.
If ESD #5s performance or lack thereof could harm the overall viability of Schertz's
agreement with the County, Schertz may, after a 90-day notice, terminate this agreement
with ESD #5. All monies owed for the service provided until the actual date of termination
will be paid to ESD #5.
Section 6. Termination of this Agreement.
(a) This Agreement shall remain in effect until Agreement expires, completion and acceptance
of services or default. Schertz reserves the right to terminate the contract with a 90 day
written notice. Either party may terminate this Agreement without cause by giving not less
than one hundred twenty (120) days' notice in writing to the other party. When such notice is
provided, ESD #5 agrees to continue to provide service until the one hundred twenty
(120) day notice period ends. Schertz agrees to pay the full consideration due to ESD #5
through the one hundred twenty (120) day notice period.
Section 7. MUtual Aid.
(a) ESD #5 and Schertz expressly acknowledge and agree that, in certain instances, the other
party may not be able to respond to an EMS call within its allocated service area. In such
instances, the parties agree to provide each other with mutual aid and to dispatch
equipment and/or personnel in accordance with and subject to the terms and conditions
hereinafter set forth.
(b) The Parties agree to provide EMS to each other upon a request for assistance from the EMS
Chief, Fire Chief, Battalion Chief, City Manager or other authorized individual as
designated in writing by the respective City.
(c) Although each party will endeavor to respond to all requests for assistance, nothing herein
shall be construed as imposing any absolute duty or obligation upon any party to respond
to any particular request for services. The provision of EMS to each parry's own area of
responsibility shall always remain the primary function of that party's department.
(d) The responding party shall report with its equipment and/or personnel to the location
requested by the dispatcher and shall remain there to render the assistance required. Should
the responding party be dispatched to a location at which the requesting party has already
arrived, the responding party agrees to work under the authority of the requesting party
upon arrival at the scene.
(e) In the event one party cannot or is unable to respond to a request for assistance, that party
shall immediately notify the party requesting such assistance.
(f) All claims for workers compensation or other benefits arising out of the performance of
this Agreement shall be the sole responsibility of the party which is the general employer
or supervisor of the person filing such claim.
(g) At no time shall the employees of a responding party be considered borrowed servants or
on loan to the requesting party.
Section 8. Authorization. This Agreement has been duly authorized by the governing
bodies of ESD #5 and Schertz.
Section 9. Severability. If any portion of this Agreement shall be declared illegal or held
unenforceable for any reason, the remaining portions hereof shall continue in full force and
effect.
Section 10. Amendments. This Agreement represents the complete understanding of
ESD #5 and Schertz with respect to the matters described herein, and this Agreement may
not be amended or altered without the written consent of both parties.
Section 11. GovernipZ Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the
State of Texas.
Section 12. Governmental Functions, Liability; No Waiver of Immunity or
Defenses. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary herein, this Agreement is a
contract for and with respect to the performance of governmental functions by
governmental entities.
(a) The services provided for herein are governmental functions, and the Parties shall be
engaged in the conduct of a governmental function while providing and/or performing
any service pursuant to this Agreement.
(b) The relationship of the Parties shall, with respect to that part of any service or function
undertaken as a result of or pursuant to this Agreement, be that of independent contractors.
(c) Nothing contained herein shall be deemed or construed by the Parties, or by any third
party, as creating the relationship of principal and agent, partners, joint ventures, or
any other similar such relationship between the Parties.
(d) Each Party shall have no liability whatsoever for the actions of, or failure to act by,
any employees, agents, representatives, or assigns of the other Party in connection with
the Agreement. Each Party covenants and agrees, to the extent permitted by law, that it
shall be solely responsible, as between the Parties, for and with respect to any claim or
cause of action arising out of or with respect to any act, omission, or failure to act by
its respective employees, agents, representatives, or assigns, in connection therewith.
(e) Each Party reserves and does not waive any defense available to it at law or in equity as
to any claim or cause of action whatsoever that may arise or result from or in connection
with this Agreement. This Agreement shall not be interpreted nor construed to give to
any third party the right to any claim or cause of action, and neither Party shall be held
legally liable for any claim or cause of action arising pursuant to or in connection with
this Agreement except as specifically provided herein or by law.
(f) Neither Party waives or relinquishes any immunity or defense on behalf of itself, its
commissioners, councilmembers, officers, employees, and agents as a result of the
execution of this Agreement and the performance of the covenants and agreements
contained herein.
[Signatures and acknowledgements on the followingpages]
INTERLOCAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
AND CALDWELL COUNTY ESD #5, TEXAS
The Parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the dates set forth below to be effective as of the
Effective Date.
CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
Steve Williams, City Manager
SIGNATURE PAGE TO
INTERLOCAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS
AND CALDWELL COUNTY ESD #5, TEXAS
CALDWELL COUNTY ESD #5
Guadalupe County
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