Hisey: ESD continues to improve service for county

Dr. Commie Hisey, vice president of the Gonzales County Emergency Services District No. 1 board, gave an update on that organization to the Gonzales County Commissioners Court on Monday, July 24.

Hisey said he wants to keep the county updated monthly on what ESD No. 1 is doing and what it has accomplished.

“Some of you may or may not know that the Emergency Services District is now run by the ESD No. 1 and we have 501(c)(3) status and we are moving in the right direction with that group,” Hisey said. “We knew we had to do some things and make some changes, so we got education and we learned about the statutes and taxes.”
Hisey said the board has increased the tax levy the district takes in and has used it to replace old equipment and to hire an administrator, Eddie Callender Jr.

“He set up a hierarchy in the department to help keep it running well,” Hisey said. “We've pulled in Rescue and Recovery under the umbrella of the ESD, which allows them to have better equipment and emergency apparels to wear when they go out to the sites where wrecks have occurred.”

Other improvements include new ambulances, stretchers and a lift that can help load heavier patients into ambulances. 

“We've got them uniforms, insurance, and retirement,” Hisey said. “We keep track of attendance to our meetings now. And we want people to be there so that we can show that they're keeping up to date on their education.”

Hisey said ESD No. 1 has been making a point of “doing everything we can to be transparent.”

“Our meetings are open now and we encourage some of the commissioners if you'd like to come to our meetings and we want the public to come,” Hisey said. “These meetings used to be held in sort of a closed session and there weren't a lot of comments made. These meetings are open and we welcome you to come to these meetings and see what we've done.”

Hisey praised Callender’s management and noted the organization also has an accountant and a collection agency, which has allowed them to use their money even wiser.

“We've been able to, with good prudent management, put money back so we can get these ambulances, and with depreciation, we plan to keep rotating so we can keep good equipment for our county and our paramedics and EMTs,” Hisey said. “That money has allowed us to build a new facility in Nixon. We're currently building one here in Gonzales and we plan to build one in Waelder.

“The one in Gonzales, we hope that once it's built, will also be the hub of any emergency services that may need to take place with any big emergency. We can bring all the emergency services under one roof for that period of time and orchestrate what we need to do for this county to take care of our people. This building … it's going to be the pride of Gonzales. It is going to be a beautiful building.”

Hisey praised his fellow board members, noting “they've done a whole lot of work to help ensure that we've got good care here, that we've got educated people taking care of your population here in the community and we're going to continue to improve.”