In 2003, after several emergency incidents, the Board of Directors of the YO Landowners Association started looking into the response times and services offered by the Kerr County emergency service providers and were disappointed at what they found.

An ambulance, coming from Kerrville, would take approximately one hour just to reach the intersection of YO Ranch Rd and Camino Real. From that location, if someone knew exactly where they were going, it could take up to 25 minutes to reach some of the ranchlands remote locations. Once the EMT on the ambulance arrived at the scene, the EMT would evaluate the situation and call for air evacuation if, in his/her opinion, it appeared necessary. Air evacuation would take at least 30 minutes to arrive after the request. When these factors were added to the fact that most of the landowners in the YO Ranchlands are over 50, the result was viewed as unacceptable.

The investigation showed that Junction, 20 miles away in Kimble County, is much better situated to serve the critical needs of the YO Ranchlands residents. Their policy for areas such as the YO Ranchlands is to dispatch the ambulance and dispatch Shannon Airmed1, the air ambulance service, at the same time. When the EMT gets to the scene and evaluates the situation, Shannon is either told to continue or return to base depending on the circumstances.

Fire service response is also significantly faster from Junction than the nearest Kerr County fire departments.

With these facts in hand and others relating to available hospital services, the Association approached the Kerr County Commissioners and requested that an arrangement be made that would establish Junction as the first responder for all fire and medical emergencies in the YO Ranchlands.

The Kerr County Commissioners Court concurred with the obvious advantages of this request and the arrangements were completed in 2004.

Donations may be made to volunteer emergency services organizations at the following addresses:

• Kimble County EMS
  151 Hospital Drive
  Junction, TX 76849
• Junction VFD
  PO Box 91
  Junction, TX 76849
• YO Ranchlands VFD
  150 Camino Real
  Junction, TX 76849