NEWTON, Texas — Voters in Newton County have said yes to creating a new emergency services district that will bring a much-needed ambulance service to the county.
Proposition A will create Emergency Services District Six in Newton County
The proposition passed with 4,177 votes, or 80.8% of the votes in the general election. The against votes numbered 991 or 19.2% of the vote.
County leaders assured voters they could create the district without raising property taxes.
During the campaign, Newton County Judge Ronnie Cochran told 12News that the county desperately needed its own ambulance service.
Newton County has been utilizing emergency medical services of neighboring counties when, and if, they are available. The time for a dedicated ambulance service is now according to Judge Cochran.
"Two years ago, my son-in-law was in a wreck in rural area between Burkeville and Toledo Bend and it was an hour waiting on ambulance," Cochran told 12News recently.
He recalled the night his son-in-law and two others lost their lives in the crash.
"It was pretty bad collision, so would a faster response time have helped? It could have," Cochran said recently
While Newton County has five emergency service districts dedicated to fighting fires Cochran says they need an ambulance service. That's where ESD 6 would come in.
"They've never had a dedicated ambulance service to Newton County," said Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Gunter.
Gunter, who is also a Jasper Hospital board member says Newton County has been forced to borrow the services of neighboring Jasper and Orange Counties for decades. He says it's more than their system and manpower can handle.
"A system built for roughly 5,000 calls a year is now running 7,500. We do have an occasional added unit when staffing allows. But staffing is a challenge. The contracted provider is Allegiance EMS. They go out of their way to bring resources from other operations here to assist with that call volume that has just really grown out of control," said Gunter.
Deweyville Fire Chief and Newton County Emergency Management Coordinator Mark McCall says that although his firefighters can respond at a moment's notice, they can't all provide critical care.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
