Wimberley EMS aiming for top notch headquarters

Almost everything about Wimberley’s EMS is top notch — except its headquarters building.

The 13 paramedics who work there are highly trained and the ambulances are new and equipped with the latest technology. The building that houses the emergency medical services, however, was built in the 1970s and is showing signs of wear and tear. The structure has not kept up with Wimberley’s growth.

That is about to change, says EMS director Ken Strange.

Soon, ground will break on a new EMS station. The old building is about 4,000 square feet and the new one will almost double the size. It will be at the same location at 220 Twilight Trail in Wimberley.

The new structure will feature a classroom to seat 25 people for training in CPR and first aid. The room will also double as a command center during disasters.

There will also be a treatment room. “I’m so excited about that,” says Ken.

Walk-in wounded

These days, Ken says, about 10 people a month will come to the EMS office with some sort of physical problem. They might be bleeding from a work accident or have an illness. Sometimes they are treated in the dining area — which is probably not good for the injured party and certainly not good for those who wish to eat there.

The cost of the new structure is around $2 million. Ken has banked $1.5 million already and will be making the rounds to local foundations and donors to try and find the rest. “I’d love to have this done debt free,” he says. “If we have to go to the bank for the remainder we will, but I’d rather not borrow.”

The district is also looking at adding a fourth ambulance to handle the anticipated increase in calls when a couple of large assisted-living centers open soon in Wimberley.

Right now the paramedics — who work 48 hours on and 96 hours off — handle about 1,600 calls annually — that averages out to four or five calls a day. “You just never can tell. Sometimes a shift will have four calls and sometimes a shift will have 15 calls. They come in spurts,” says Ken.

The Wimberley EMS serves a 147-square-mile area, that includes Wimberley, Driftwood and Woodcreek.

About 60 percent of the calls are for heart attacks and other medical problems. The remainder are for traffic crashes and workplace or home accidents.

The number of calls is growing at a slow, steady rate. Wimberley used to be thought of as a retirement community. “We’re seeing younger families moving in so our call rate is growing more slowly, about two percent a year,” explains Ken.

New equipment

The ambulances in service are all newer — 2017 and 2019 models — that are equipped with state-of-theart gear. When someone is picked up after having a heart attack, for example, a monitor is attached that transmits information on the patient to the hospital so the staff is ready to swing into action immediately. “We have the latest, greatest equipment you could possibly put your hands on,” Ken says. “I’ll put our equipment up against anyone’s.”

When parked they are always plugged in, so when a call comes in and the paramedics scramble, they are not met with a dead battery.

The price tag for a new ambulance tops $200,000.

In the old days, the Wimberley EMS frequently took patients to hospitals in Austin, but now almost everything is handled here in Hays County. “We can pretty much handle anything here,” says Ken, who has been with Wimberley EMS since the mid-1980s.

Wimberley EMS has three primary funding sources: taxes (about 80 percent), fees for service (15 percent) and donations and fundraisers (five percent).

A typical call runs about $970. EMS charges $18 a mile. Usually the bulk of that expense is picked up by private insurance or Medicare.

The 13 paramedics — 10 men and three women — are all licensed (with some sort of college degree) or certified (with paramedic training, but no college degree). Three things are stressed: diagnosis, treatment and safe driving.

It takes the paramedics about four minutes, from when a call comes in, to hit the road. A typical call lasts two to three hours which includes a trip to the hospital.

The starting paramedic salary is around $52,000.

You’d think witnessing mayhem and pain on a dayto-day basis would take a toll on the paramedics. “You would think they would get burned out but they are all the most compassionate and loving people,” says Ken. Wimberley paramedics have been known to transport a patient, then go back to the house and feed the dog. One woman who was taken to the hospital was worried about how she looked, so they helped her put on her make-up. They routinely call out-of-the-area relatives up update them on a patient’s condition.

You see the EMS ambulances outside Gate 2 at Wimberley Market Days where the paramedics keep busy treating wasp stings, falls and heat stroke. They also are a fixture at Wimberley High School football games where their primary duty is treating injured players, although if something happens in the stands they are on it.

Each EMS district operates under the “license” of a medical doctor. Dr. Steve Moore, an emergency specialist in San Antonio, oversees Wimberley EMS.

Once demolition on the old building starts, the operation will shift to two temporary buildings, like the kind used to house oilfield workers. The buildings are already on site. One will be the living space for the paramedics and the other will be used for administration. The new building project is expected to take eight months. “But you know how that goes,” says Ken with a chuckle.