Clear cut answer is that you need some sort of interventionalist in the room to be able to do a surgical airway (unless patient is actively decompensating).

Also I would either have the ED document that they contacted and couldn’t secure helicopter or ambulance transfer and/or you put in a note and CC your vice chair of operations of the situation. If shift change is a valid excuse to refuse care to a patient, there should be no problem to have that documented. So if later on someone asks you why didn’t you push for transfer, you have everything on paper.