DENVER -- Officials are considering stationing an ambulance at or near Denver International Airport after a CALL7 Investigation found long delays in emergency responses to the busy air field.

Denver city officials and Denver Health Medical Center administrators have put together a committee to determine the feasibility of a DIA ambulance.

The committee is expected to make changes before Denver Health's ambulance contract with the city expires in January.

DIA is the fifth busiest airport in the United States but the only airport in the top five without an ambulance on-site.

On a given day, DIA has 30,000 employees and 136,000 airline passengers, making it the equivalent of Colorado's fourth largest city in terms of size.

A city, with no ambulance.

CALL7 Investigators reviewed thousands of documents -- ambulance calls to DIA over the past year -- and discovered 265 emergency calls with an average response time of fifteen minutes.

"Fifteen minutes until an ambulance arrives at an airport is way too long," said Denver Paramedic and union president Bob Petre.

The national standard for ambulance response, and the standard adopted by the city of Denver, is less than nine minutes but the airport's geographic isolation results in long wait times, the CALL7 Investigation found.

While paramedics are always on-site at DIA the closest ambulance is, on average, 12 miles away.

"What has happened to my husband and my family should not happen again," said Vickie Elgin.

Her husband Mark died at the airport while waiting 33 minutes for an ambulance that had to respond from downtown Denver -- 26 miles away.

The CALL7 analysis showed seven people in the past year, including Mark Elgin, had to wait more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to reach DIA.

On 26 emergency calls, the closest available ambulance was more than 20 miles from the airport.

Other findings in the CALL7 analysis were that:

- 94 percent of all calls to DIA exceeded the 8 minute and 59 second response goal.

- 19 percent of all calls exceeded 20 minutes.

- 4 percent of calls were longer than 30 minutes.

- In 58 percent of calls, ambulances responded from the closest regular post where ambulances that serve DIA are stationed. That post at 48th Avenue and Tower Road is 9.2 miles away, but the average response from there was 13 minutes and 6 seconds.

CALL7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski asked Petre, "Do you think Denver Health knows these numbers?"

Petre said, "I think Denver Health doesn't want to know these numbers. It's unbelievable. It's the product of the failed Denver Health administration not putting enough ambulances in the city to provide service."

Airport documents confirm other critically ill patients waiting a long time for an ambulance including 28 minutes for a passenger with a possible heart problem and 25 minutes to reach an unconscious woman.

We also found a case in which an airport employee suffered a stroke and the ambulance took 28 minutes to respond from nine miles away.

"Your average response time is 15 minutes. Are you satisfied with that level of service?" Kovaleski asked Denver Health Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Thomas.

Thomas said, "I would like to see it better."

Denver Health is contracted to provide ambulance service for the city of Denver, including DIA.

Kovaleski asked, "Why are ambulances not stationed at DIA?"

Thomas replied, "We haven't felt that was warranted but that's something we are always looking at."

Kovaleski asked Thomas, "Ultimately was the decision to save money?"

Thomas said, "I wouldn't say that was the only reason."

She admitted airport and hospital officials have formed a committee to study options and hope to have a new plan in place before the first of the year.

Late Thursday, Denver Health released a report that the hospital paid a consultant $125 an hour to produce for a maximum of $20,000. The report found there is too much emphasis on response times and that Denver Health paramedic service compares favorably to other cities.

The report, nevertheless, suggested changes such as sending to paramedics to fewer calls that emergency medical technicians can handle and expanding training for CPR so citizens who are at the scene can help.