JASPER, Texas — First responders hope new state-of-the-art vehicles will solve an issue that has plagued Jasper County for quite some time.
The City of Jasper is getting ambulances thanks to a contract with Allegiance Mobile Health. Getting the new ambulances was no easy task. It took eight months of meetings to make it possible.
Jasper County community members previously voiced their concerns on what they called an "unacceptable" issue regarding a shortage of ambulances and paramedics. Their concerns were met with action from the city.
The vote to approve the new contract with Allegiance Mobile Health happened during a Monday, June 11, 2022 meeting. Now long wait times for ambulances to arrive will be relieved with the addition of five new emergency vehicles.
Officials hope the new partnership will help people receive the 24/7 care they need. Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Gunther describes the partnership as a step in the right direction.
First responders previously told 12News it was taking ambulance services 45 minutes to an hour to get to scenes.
“We have experienced in the past time an EMS crisis and no one was there to answer the call,” Gunther said. “Primarily that is what we are trying to solve. We want to make sure we have a unit here dedicated to the citizens of Jasper and ESD 4 to answer that call when they need help.”
Allegiance Mobile Health already has a footprint in rural counties across Southeast Texas, such as Tyler, Orange and Polk. Allegiant Representative Monty Cartwright said the need will always be there.
“If you have 5 you will need 6, if you have 6 you will need 7,” Cartwright said. “This is going to drastically reduce both response times. We also have our dispatch center that has moved into jasper and it will take care of these units directly. That also benefits in the response times.”
The five-year contract will not cost the city Jasper Emergency Services District #4 anything.
Jasper Mayor Randy Sayers said this is showing improvement.
“Been here 35 years and it has seemed to always been a problem,” Mayor Sayers. “But I think this is going to solve a lot of them, a lot of the problems we have had from the past.”
Currently, two of the new vehicles are already in use. Officials expect the following three to arrive sometime in August 2022.
Also on 12NewsNow.com ...