BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — Bastrop County could be getting access to more ambulances, thanks to a proposal for a third Emergency Service District (ESD).
On Tuesday, the Bastrop City Council approved a motion to join a third ESD, pending approval from voters in November.
“This county has grown so much, where that just no longer seems to be a viable option,” said Caleb Peck, a Bastrop County First Responder volunteer.
Currently, Bastrop County has ESD 1, which covers the Cedar Creek and Del Valle areas, and ESD 2, which covers the areas north of Bastrop and east towards Smithville. Both ESDs are fire-only, but Peck said they respond to some medical calls on a Basic Life Support (BLS) level.
“They can do basic interventions, they can help start CPR, they can use an aid, they can give a very limited amounts of meds,” Peck said.
But for anything more serious, or to transfer a patient, they would have to wait for an ambulance from Acadian, the contracted, for-profit ambulance company that provides just four ambulances over the whole 896 square miles of Bastrop County.
Since the 1980s, volunteers from the Bastrop County First Responders have stepped in to help the private, contracted ambulances.
“We show up to the calls either to help them out, whenever it’s a more severe patient or whenever, you know, they might have an extended response time,” Peck said.
But even with their help, with a geographic range that large, volunteers say response times have inevitably gotten longer.
“Oftentimes, with the current system, we have response times greater than 30 to 40 minutes, sometimes over an hour with critical patients, just due to the lack of ambulances and where they’re coming from,” Peck said.
Volunteers said some of these ambulances have come from other areas such as Austin and Temple and even some as far as San Marcos, Killeen and even San Antonio.
Another issue first responder volunteers face is that because the Acadian ambulances are contracted from a national company, they don’t have all the features other ambulances would have. But with the proposed new ESD, they hope to provide more services like IV pumps, a better-quality intubation system and power load stretchers.
“These are interventions that Caldwell County, Fayette County, Austin-Travis County all carry, that their trucks are fully equipped with these, and we think that it’s time for Bastrop County to have the same service level as our surrounding counties,” Peck said.
But this new ESD would come at a cost to residents. It would be paid for by a new property tax rate, separate from the city tax, of 10 cents per $100 in valuation.
“Yes, it’s going to be an increase in taxes, but it’s only going to be used for specific items,” Peck said. “It can’t be taken and used for something that the voters haven’t approved it for.”
Despite the tax increase, several city leaders expressed their support for creating this new ESD during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“The reality of it is, as I told the council before, I don’t even let my father visit because he has a heart condition and I’m afraid I can’t get an ambulance here in time,” Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo said.
"Citizens aren't provided for right now – 45 minutes to an hour response time is not acceptable for anybody," Bastrop City Councilmember Cynthia Meyer (Place 2) said.
In November, Bastrop County residents will vote on whether to approve the creation of this third ESD. The Bastrop County First Responders are hoping it’s something all residents vote for.
“That would be able to help spread that load over the county, so that we can make sure that we have a reasonable response time to every citizen of Bastrop County,” Peck said.
In addition to the city of Bastrop, Smithville and Mustang Ridge have also opted into this ESD if voters approve it. Webberville and Elgin haven’t formally made a decision yet but are also in talks about opting in.