Bastrop County’s new emergency services district is gearing up to break ground this September on a $2.5 million regional emergency medical services station, officials say. The single-story facility is expected to serve as a central home base for ambulances and on-site crew quarters as the district builds out its own ambulance service across the county.
Plans and features
According to Community Impact, a June 4 filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation states that construction is scheduled to begin in September on a roughly 6,000-square-foot, single-story metal station on Jasper Street in Bastrop. Plans call for apparatus bays, living quarters, a day room, a kitchen, and a fitness room, with construction expected to take about a year. The filing and related city documents also note that the property sale requires the district to begin construction within 36 months of the land transfer.
How the fleet will change
“It is our intent to have eight ambulances, 24 hours a day, with three additional peak trucks,” ESD No. 3 Executive Director Allen Johnson told Community Impact. Johnson said the district expects to grow from four ambulances to as many as 11 units overall and to add two supervisors as it gradually phases up operations.
District buildout and hiring
Per the district’s own updates, Bastrop County ESD #3 has been ordering ambulances and bringing on staff ahead of the shift to a locally operated EMS system. The agency’s operations notes and board actions show architectural work is in progress, vendor approvals and equipment purchases are moving ahead, and hiring continues for clinical, field supervisor, and communications positions as the system prepares to take on expanded coverage.
Timeline and what to watch
Board meeting minutes from February describe the executive director presenting operational dashboards and approving purchases and contracts as the district lines up equipment and financing for the rollout. “Executive Director Johnson presented the report as included in the packet and announced the hiring of the Clinical Director,” the minutes state, according to the Bastrop County ESD #3 meeting minutes. Officials say the new station is intended to cut response times across Bastrop’s nearly 900-square-mile service area as the expanded fleet comes online.
