After 10 years contracting with San Marcos-Hays County EMS, the Buda Fire Department is bringing its ambulance services in-house. (Photo by Jen Biundo)
Six new paramedics and their division chief will staff the new Buda ambulance service. (Left to Right) Chas Humphrey, EMS Division Chief Daniel Baum, George Geisen, Michell Johnston, Dustin Loper, Eric Spillar. Not pictured: Jacob Stinson. (Photo by Jen Biundo)
by JEN BIUNDO
The Buda Fire Department will bring its ambulance services in-house next month, marking the latest move to professionalize emergency care in the rapidly-growing district.
On Oct. 2, the fire department will take over ambulance services from the San Marcos/Hays County EMS, which currently has a contract to respond to medical emergencies in the Buda area.
“San Marcos/Hays County EMS has provided great service,” said Buda Fire Chief Clay Huckaby. “This is talking it in a new direction and bringing it in-house.”
Jim Hollis, president of the Emergency Services District that oversees fire and medical care for the Buda area, said the new services will not trigger an increase in the district’s three cent tax rate.
“I’m one of these folks that like to shop at home,” Hollis said. “I like to have things in-house, I like to have the community and the personnel involved. If we can get basically the same type of operations as we have in San Marcos, we would much rather have local people.”
The move will add a second ambulance to northeast Hays County, with one unit stationed at the west fire station and the other at the substation east of IH-35.
“The call volume here in Buda isn’t through the roof for EMS,” Huckaby said. “It’s only about 1,000 calls per year, but the district is so sprawling it hurts response times.”
With only one ambulance currently assigned to Buda, EMS workers now have to call up a backup ambulance from Kyle or San Marcos about six to 10 times per month when two medical calls came in at once, Huckaby said, losing critical minutes that could mean the difference between life and death for some patients.
“If you had to do it one time, it’s too many,” Huckaby said. “When that second call hits, we’ll have personnel ready to go in our own community.”
Ambulance rides will cost roughly the same as they did under the San Marcos contract, at a flat fee of $750 for a basic call, $850 for an advanced call and $950 for a life-saving call.
The move has been in the works for two to three years, Hollis said. Two recently-constructed fire stations were designed with the EMS operations in mind, and include a bedroom for EMT staffers and a bay for the ambulance unit.
The ESD has hired six senior paramedics, three at the east station and three at the west station. They’ll be augmented with Buda firefighters, who will do two-week rotations on the ambulance. While Buda firefighters will still go out to medical calls as first responders, now they’ll also have EMT experience.
“It’ll keep us fresh on our training, and we’ll definitely advance our skills,” Huckaby said.
Longtime Buda firefighter and paramedic Daniel Baum was promoted to Division Chief of the EMS Unit. Baum said the new service would bring a sense of local ownership and pride in the community.
“Most of the people, myself included, live in the community,” Baum said. “Our goal is to treat everybody like they’re family and neighbors.”
Hays County ESD No. 8 is the taxing arm for the Buda Fire Department’s 75-square-mile district, and charges ten cents per $100 of property valuation on the annual tax bill. Meanwhile, Northeast Hays County ESD #2 provides EMS service to the same geographic district at a charge of three cents per $100.
Dripping Springs and Wimberley also have separate EMS districts, while the other large cities integrate EMS service into the city or fire district tax rate. In unincorporated areas and small communities such as Niederwald or Uhland, the county fronts the money for ambulance service.
