Atascosa EMS helps Houston – Pleasanton Express

Atascosa EMS unit at Houston Fire Station during deployment. COURTESY PHOTO

Atascosa County Emergency Services recently assisted Houston’s Harris County in dealing with the impact of Hurricane Beryl as the area suffered dire conditions.

Atascosa County EMS has partnered with the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force to assist the state with large-scale incidents including hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, mass shootings and floods.

“More than 2 million people in and around Houston were left without power, many nursing homes and care facilities were shut down, dialysis centers closed, and internet and phone outages impacted the health care system,” said Courtney Grier, Atascosa County Emergency Medical Services director. “This put a strain on the 911 system.”

Atascosa County sent an ambulance consisting of paramedic Robert Anderson and EMT Roy Sauceda from July 8 to 13. Grier stressed that the unit was a reserve unit and did not interfere with or impact the day-to-day operations of Atascosa County.

Initially, the county EMS team was deployed to NRG Stadium, along with all other resources deployed.

The second day, they were assigned to Houston Fire Station 50 to help respond to 911 calls, then to Houston Fire Station 69 to continue helping respond to 911 calls.

In total, they responded to about 25 911 emergency calls.

This is the second time in county history that a unit has been deployed. In 2022, a unit was sent to Uvalde to assist with the Robb Elementary School shooting.