OGLESBY, Texas (KXXV) — Oglesby’s Volunteer Fire Department is located at the center of town.
Police and paramedics from Gatesville, are coming from 15 to 20 minutes away.
“If there was someone here, would they be able to respond faster and not have that long wait time?” Shane Webb asked.
“My conversations with the sheriff have been, the call volume does warrant to have someone stationed in this area.”
Webb would like to see more resources right here in our community.
As Oglesby ISD Superintendent, he even offered offices at the school district for those emergency responders.
However, that takes funding and approval from the county.
“This city is small. They don’t have the tax base to be able to add a police department,” Webb said.
“We’re going to look at some partnerships where we can get some additional police presence.”
Oglesby is not the only rural community facing these issues and trying to find solutions.
Data from the National Institutes of Health, shows seven minutes as the average time it takes from the 911 call, to the emergency services arriving.
That nearly doubles for rural towns like ours, with an average of 14 minutes in response times.
“Typically, the EMS comes from Coryell Health, and that takes time for those services to get here,” Webb said.
“If you are having to wait for sheriff’s deputies or whoever, to get into the community, that response time can be fairly long.”
In the meantime, Webb did bring these concerns to the Coryell County commissioners at a recent meeting.
He hopes they will find room in next year’s budget for a solution.
“Safety is an important topic. I know they have that tough job, but how can they look at ways – can we fund it for a year – and then look at ways down the road,” Webb said.
