Wilco Business Review • First Issue

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Charlotte Kovalchukcharlotte@wilcobr.com

Nearly 50 years after launching, Williamson County EMS has continuously embraced new technology and services, but one thing hasn’t changed over the years—the department’s heart for patients. “The system is dramatically different,” says Dr. Jeff Jarvis, medical director for Wilco EMS. “It’s much larger, with a larger population, but we really focus on the practice, we focus on training, and most importantly, we focus on the heart and compassion of medicine.”

That compassion has been especially important in the last year. Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell says, “In the last year, no department has faced greater challenges and adversity. What has been asked of paramedics during COVID is unprecedented, and their response has been nothing less than amazing.”

EVOLUTION OF CARE

Formed in 1975, Wilco EMS consisted of 16 employees and four ambulances, and paramedics treated 700 patients in the calendar year. Back then, workers could only guess if a patient was having a heart attack. Today, Wilco EMS has 151 employees and 22 response vehicles that serve the entire county around the clock, allowing 34,000 patients to receive care each year. More importantly, instead of guessing whether someone is having a heart attack, paramedics can not only identify the condition but also see where it is happening in the heart

FROM THE COUNTY JUDGE

and which artery is being affected, saving time and lives by delivering the information to the hospital where patients will receive further treatment.

Back in the 70s, Wilco EMS also did not have many pain treatment options, whereas now, “We’re very aggressive about treating pain and making sure patients are as comfortable as possible,” Jeff says. For patients with breathing problems, the best option used to be a tube in their lungs. Now, paramedics can help them breathe with masks attached to ventilators. When the tube is necessary, “We are careful about how we do that so we’re using the right combination of medications and techniques to do it as safely as possible. We’re one of the industry leaders in that,” Jeff says.

With Bill Gravell

EMS CALLS PER DAY

3.9 CALLS

11.7 CALLS

WILLIAMSON COUNTY

27 CALLS

30.1 CALLS

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WHEN YOU CALL 9-1-1

Wilco EMS serves every area in Williamson County except Georgetown, which provides EMS service through its fire department. When it comes to planning for more resources, Jeff says Wilco EMS doesn’t determine how many resources are needed based on population numbers, because not all citizens have an equal need for EMS service. “For example, young families with young kids are (thankfully) typically very healthy and do not need EMS. Elderly citizens, on the other hand, typically have more need for EMS,” he says.

Instead, Wilco EMS evaluates its call volume. Across the system, Wilco EMS receives an average of 73 calls a day:

•North area (Weir, Jarrell, and Florence): 3.9 calls•South area (Round Rock, Sam Bass, Hutto): 30.1 calls•East area (Taylor, Thrall, Thorndale, Granger): 11.7 calls•West area (Cedar Park, Jollyville, Leander, Liberty Hill): 27.0 calls

Wilco EMS is asking Commissioners Court for support to add another ambulance in Leander. For Fiscal Year 2021, Wilco EMS’s budget is $19.8 million, and the county’s total budget is $394 million.

WHAT IS UHU?

Unit Hour Utilization is the proportion of time a unit is in service to the time in use. UHU is optimum between .35 and .4; i.e., 35-40% usage.

When a district gets close to .35, the county begins budgeting for new resources in that area.

Additionally, the dispatch computer uses historical data to run algorithms to identify where 9-1-1 calls are likely to occur, and will shift resources to that area.

THE BOTTOM LINE

While ambulances are based in a station and serve a typical geographic region, any County ambulance will respond to any location in the County where it is needed.

Across the system, the Wilco UHU falls between 0.11 in rural areas to 0.34 in denser areas, with an average of 0.27 overall.

THE WILCO WAY

Wilco EMS has been an innovator in the prehospital field, with its emphasis on excellent customer service, evidence-based clinical care, and continued advancement in technology and practices, all of which have earned the department many state and national honors over the years.

But one of the main things that sets Wilco EMS apart is actually not all that sexy, Jeff says. “It’s not expensive equipment, not some fancy procedure—just old-fashioned compassion.” What he calls the Wilco Way is a mindset the paramedics are taught from day one. “I make sure new employees understand that they have voluntarily become a servant,” he says. “They are putting the needs of patients above their own. They are meeting patients on the worst day of their lives, so we do everything we can, not just to practice good medicine, but to make them comfortable, whether with pain medicine or just holding their hand. That’s what sets us apart.”

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