FALFURRIAS, Texas — Right now, there are only two ambulances to cover Brooks County.
Falfurrias Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ruben Ramirez told 3NEWS that at least 20 times a month there’s not an ambulance available because they’re both tied up.
County leader say this about to change after it received a $2.4 million Operation Lone Star grant.
Officials said $800,000 of the grant will be used to help the volunteer fire department buy new vehicles and put three fulltime EMTs on the street.
"We’re 45 minutes from the nearest hospital, so when you talk about it -- [say] you have an EMS call right now, by the time they respond to Spohn Kleberg or Spohn Alice, by the time they get the patient admitted and turn back and head back, fuel up, come back, get ready for another call you’re looking at an hour downtime at a minimum," Ramirez said
Along with being the fire chief, Ramirez is also the emergency management coordinator for the county. He says the grant will allow him to cut down on ambulance calls by using new EMTs as part of a community paramedic program.
"There might not be a need to call an ambulance, maybe a first responder to check your vitals, make sure you’re taking your medication," he said.
County Judge Eric Ramos told 3NEWS Brooks County is also trying to secure a $20 million EPA grant which would help it to buy its own ambulance. This would then make three ambulances available to respond throughout the county.
"This will plug in some of the holes and take care of some of the needs that our contract with Allegiance can’t meet," he said.
The county is hiring EMTs right now!
Officials are hoping that by sometime next month they’ll have EMTs in place and the paramedic program rolling out onto the street sometime after Jan. 1.
If you're interested in applying for one of the EMT positions you can email the fire department at falfurriasvfd@outlook.com.