Fayette County EMS Responded to 4,215 Calls Last Year

Response Data

• FCEMS responded to just over 4,215 calls for service year to date in 2025, which is up by about 150 calls from this time last year. “We are still dealing with the impacts of not having a local hospital and from the increased time on task and mileage impacts to our team,” said EMS director John Vandever.

• FCEMS also responded to state-wide disasters as assets of the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force. In partnership with the Texas Division of Emergency Management; Fayette County EMS sent assets to 4 disasters, including supporting the State and Local efforts in responding to and recovering from the catastrophic flooding on July 4th in and around Kerrville. Our ambulance crews served as ambulance strike teams supporting the initial response and in support of the Urban Search and Rescue Teams as they worked to recover remains. “I served in my initial response as a Medical Incident Support Team Member and later as the Operations Section Chief from the time the position was created until I demobilized 14 days into the incident. I am immeasurably proud of the work done by our crews and that of our partner agencies in supporting the devastated communities too which we responded,” Vandever said.

• We also responded to severe weather threats and a couple of wildfire responses, again providing medical support for fellow first responders and for the communities in which they are operating. These responses not only allowed us to help our fellow Texans, but provided invaluable education and experience to our team on how to prepare better for disasters locally.

They also help to generate revenue for the county using equipment otherwise sitting in reserve.

Training and Personal Development

• FCEMS has continued to build on our internal education program. We are excited to share that Madison Whitney, Kaitlyn Witt, Maddi Tribon, and Nathan Crowley all promoted to the rank of paramedic after completing rigorous paramedic programs.

• We have strived to increase our standards internally and thus have created a requirement for our captains to obtain and maintain an advanced accredited critical care certification. We’re proud to share that Captains Conner Zeller and Neil Watkins have obtained their Critical Care Paramedic – Certified certifications and that Captain Jarrett Bise is close to completing his. This training will be critical in advancing the level of clinical expertise that our shift supervisors bring to the table and better prepare to add units of blood to our clinical practice that we intend to accomplish in the next year.