Case Study: Cy-Fair Fire Department Cuts EMS Offload Times by 77%

Texas EMS Agency Slashes Hospital Offload Times For Low-Acuity Patients Down from 45 Minutes to 10.2 Minutes with Innovative Door-to-Lobby Protocol

Cy-Fair Fire Department, a high-performing Fire and EMS agency in northwest Harris County, Texas, is proving what’s possible when hospitals and first responders rethink traditional workflows. Facing growing 911 call volumes and increasing numbers of non-urgent patients arriving by ambulance, Cy-Fair FD saw an opportunity: What if stable, low-acuity patients could bypass the wait for a bed and go straight to the emergency department lobby?

In early 2025, the department partnered with local hospitals to launch a new Door-to-Lobby protocol, powered by the Pulsara communication platform. The results were remarkable. By using strict guidelines to identify qualifying patients, and leveraging Pulsara to coordinate with receiving facilities and track and document each case, Cy-Fair FD reduced average ambulance offload times from 45 minutes to just 10.2 minutes—a 77% improvement.

In just a few months, the program has:

• Completed 120+ successful lobby transports
• Expanded from 2 to 4 participating hospitals
• Drawn interest from EMS and hospital leaders nationwide

Medics now have a safe, efficient way to route low-acuity patients appropriately while freeing up beds, reducing ED strain, and getting ambulances back into service faster.

As EMS Battalion Chief Ahmad Abodeeb put it, what providers appreciate most is "the flexibility of taking patients straight to the lobby when they know it was not necessary to be a 911 call.”

Download the case study to learn more about how Cy-Fair Fire Department is transforming their EMS workflows with Pulsara.

To learn more about how teams are using Pulsara for every emergency, from single patients to MCI events, check out 10 ways Pulsara helps during time-sensitive emergencies.