HOUSTON -- Local 2 Investigates the people we trust with our lives in an emergency.

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians make life and death decisions every day, but we've uncovered one group of emergency workers that some say are making those decisions with an eye on your money instead of your health.

KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis spent six months digging into a profitable government contract that may put you and your family at risk.

On Houston's busy streets, it can happen anytime.

"I felt the impact. I was like, 'What just happened?'" Jason Boatswain said.

What happened was an accident. A car rear-ended Boatswain as he was getting onto Interstate 45 on the north-side.

But it's what happened next that left him with a big bill. It has Local 2 Investigates and a state senator asking questions.

"They're obviously doing a big disservice to that community," Sen. Mario Gallegos said.

Back to Boatswain’s accident in August 2008.

Paramedics from Harris County's Emergency Services District No. 1 loaded him onto a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance. But instead of driving him to the hospital, Boatswain said they moved him again.

"For whatever reason, you know, they pulled me out of the ground ambulance and put me in the helicopter," Boatswain recalled.

"So you were already in the ground ambulance? You could gone to the hospital by that ambulance?" Davis asked Boatswain.

"Yes," he said.

Instead, a medical helicopter flew Boatswain to the hospital. He was released hours later, a little sore, but with no major injuries.

The only thing that pained him a week later was the bill from the helicopter company that arrived in the mail.

"$12,400. That's a lot of money," Boatswain said while staring at the big bill.

"That's a lot of money," said Gallegos, who worked as a paramedic before he became a state senator. "That's a lot of money for someone that should've been taken either by car or by ambulance."

Local 2 Investigates discovered the number of times ESD 1 is loading its patients onto a helicopter has increased by nearly 800 percent in just one year.

ESD 1 is a nonprofit government agency paid for with taxes from homeowners who live in the Greenspoint and Aldine areas.

The ESD was created in 1991 to provide ambulance service to the people in its district. Those are some of the same people receiving huge bills for helicopter transports they never asked for.

"What kind of factors do you think they were considering when deciding, 'We'll put him in the ambulance,' or, 'We'll put him in the helicopter?'" Davis asked Boatswain.

"Money," he replied.

Local 2 Investigates discovered a lot of money at stake in a contract between ESD 1 and the for-profit private company running the medical helicopter, PHI.

As part of the contract, PHI pays ESD 1 $77,425.12 to cover the salaries of the ESD medics and nurses who ride in the chopper.

In exchange, PHI parks its chopper at an ESD station in northwest Harris County, ready to fly at a moment's notice.

But PHI is a business and businesses have to make money. If PHI billed every patient $10,000 for a ride to the hospital, it would have to transport at least eight patients a month in the ESD 1 area just to break even.

According to the contract, "ESD 1 agrees that PHI will be the first call provider for all air medical transports requests received by, through or from ESD 1."

It says PHI gets paid by "directly billing and collecting from the patients" it flies.

"We felt like this was not the way we wanted to conduct our business," Cloverleaf Volunteer Fire Department Chief Michael Battise said.

Batiste turned down ESD 1's offer to use the helicopter in his area even after he says ESD 1 offered his department a cash incentive: $200 for every patient PHI airlifted from the Cloverleaf area.

"Were you surprised that this offer or agreement was mentioned in an open meeting in front of everyone?" Davis asked Battise.

"Yes, I was," Battise replied. "One of the things that we have to deal with nowadays is that we have to deal with ethics. In my opinion, and in Cloverleaf Fire Department's opinion, that is not a good way to do business."

Clearly, it's good business for PHI.

In 2007, before ESD 1 signed the contract with PHI, the district only airlifted 12 patients in the entire year. In 2008, after ESD 1 signed the deal with the helicopter company, it transported 106 patients. That’s a 783 percent increase.

"It's far more dangerous to be a patient in an air ambulance than it is to be in a ground ambulance," attorney Mike Slack said.

Slack is suing PHI for an air ambulance crash in Montgomery County last year that killed the pilot, flight nurse, paramedic and the patient on board.

He said it was later learned there was no reason the patient on board couldn't have made the trip from a Huntsville hospital to Houston by ground ambulance.

"What they're doing is they're dramatically increasing their exposure to the kinds of risk that cause crashes with air ambulances," Slack said about the ESD contract with PHI.

Local 2 Investigates wanted to speak with the director of ESD 1, Jody Meads. When he didn't return our calls, we stopped by his home and his office with no luck.

ESD 1's attorney finally spoke with us on camera, but he said very little.

"Some people say that you're using that helicopter not to help people, but to make money," Davis said, asking for attorney Mark Smith’s response.

"OK, well, I can't give you an official answer on that," Smith replied. "I can answer any factual questions that you may have. We've been instructed by our Board of Commissioners not to give an opinion statement."

PHI wouldn’t answer most of our questions, either. By phone, a representative said all medical decisions regarding how a patient is transported are made by medical professionals.

In a letter, ESD 1 wrote that it does not profit from using the PHI helicopter. It said paramedics at the scene decide how patients will be transferred by considering the patient's condition, types of injuries and the time of day. It said the air ambulance costs taxpayers no additional money.

But you won't believe what taxpayers in ESD 1 are paying for. Wednesday night, we dig into ESD 1's finances to show you why the director of that small district is making more money than the fire chief for the entire city of Houston.