.png)
The Wimberley Emergency Medical Services has reached a new milestone. In 2025, a third ambulance will be put into service which will allow the hiring of six to nine additional EMS staff.
With the addition of a new ambulance, the total number of vehicles owned by Wimberley EMS will amount to five, however two vehicles are always outside the rotation for maintenance and service.
EMS Director Ken Strange, who assumed the role in 2004, explained, “For those times when our crews would go from one call to the next, it led to the decision to add an ambulance and more staff.”
The district is roughly divided into “north” and “south” regions. One ambulance and crew generally covers one region while the other ambulance and its medics serve the other. In 2025 when staff is fully installed, one ambulance will service the north, where fewer calls originate, and two will service the busier southern area.
Currently, the facility is staffed by fifteen medics and four office staff. They are charged with the emergency care of 30,000 people over a 142-square mile area. On weekends and during the summer, that figure can go as high as 50,000.
Wimberley EMS answers 2,200 calls each year. When asked if there are peak times for calls, Strange said, “there’s no rhyme or reason, there’s no pattern to it.” Despite common expectations, “Full moons and holiday weekends don’t seem to impact the numbers at all,” he said.
Early this summer, a dog owner whose pet was stricken with heatstroke raced to the EMS station. Not able to get emergency veterinarian services in time to save her bulldog, she turned to Wimberley EMS medics who jumped into action and stabilized the pet until veterinary services responded.
When asked if treating pets was outside the range of their normal services, Strange said, “We are a community organization. We take care of the whole picture. We treat the entire patient and not just the injury or trauma.” In other words, if there is a medical crisis that requires swift action, Wimberley EMS is there to help.
Most of their cases are centered around medical issues rather than incidents of trauma. At this time, their 8,000 square foot facility at 220 Twilight Trail accommodates three crews who work 48-hour shifts.
When residents dial 911, the call goes to a dispatcher in San Marcos who simultaneously routes the call to Wimberley EMS, Wimberley Fire and Rescue and the Sheriff’s office. Trauma patients are taken to Seton Hays in Kyle, a Level 2 trauma center. Patients suffering heart attacks and strokes are taken to hospitals and medical centers in nearby San Marcos.
The Wimberley EMS is a unique entity because they operate as a non-profit. They contract with Emergency Medical District #7, which is a taxing authority, regulated by the Hays County Commissioner’s Court.
