Air Med 12 expands network, improving emergency response times in Brazos Valley rural areas

CENTERVILLE, Texas (KBTX) - Getting critical medical care is now easier in Leon County. Air Med 12, a medical aircraft operation, partnered with St. Joseph Health to expand its operations with a new base in Centerville.

Billy Rice, director of St. Joseph EMS and Air Med 12, told KBTX this was not just a want but a need for rural communities.

“These crews up here are a really long way from the big hospitals, so they heavily rely on air medical support and the flight crews to intercept them,” Rice explained. “The Air Med 12 program is a one-aircraft operation and was very busy, and we could not keep up with the number of requests that occur up here.”

For the past 20 years, Air Med 12 has operated with just one helicopter serving the entire Brazos Valley. Now, with a new base in Centerville, life-saving care is just minutes away for patients up north.

“It’s very important to have this type of service in our county,” said Leon County Judge Byron Ryder. “Our people, rural people versus urban people; we deserve, I think, to have the same kind of services they have in the city.”

The expansion has been in the works for years with the goal of bringing faster emergency response to rural communities. Before, helicopters had to fly from Bryan-College Station or even further, adding crucial minutes to each call. Now, with a helicopter and crew stationed in Centerville 24/7, they can respond faster.

“With I-45 going through the middle of our county, we have a lot of critical incidents,” Leon County Sheriff Kevin Ellis disclosed. “We have a great volunteer fire service that gets out and gets on the scene and having these helicopters here to get those patients out and get them to a hospital, to a trauma center faster, is just phenomenal for the county.”

The team has been hard at work in Centerville for about six weeks and is averaging up to three flights per day.

Rice detailed, “Through a pretty substantial partnership, we’re able to, number one; expand our air medical offering by opening another Air Med 12 base here in Centerville and then build this beautiful base.”

With the new base, response times have been cut from upwards of an hour-and-a-half to 20 minutes.

“It’s taken time to get this here but as you can see now, it’s here,” Sheriff Ellis pointed out. “They have a beautiful facility they have built here. It’s a great facility for these crews to work out of, and it’s going to be a great asset to Leon County.”

While this is a major achievement for rural Texas, Rice told KBTX he has his eye on the horizon, looking to what’s next.

“I’m so happy and I am excited, and I don’t want to take away from that but it’s kinda like, ‘what now, what’s next?‘” added Rice. “What’s the next thing we chip away at, where do we identify the next areas we can improve health care, and how do we do that?”

Community members are invited to the grand opening of the new Air Med 12 north base in Centerville on Tuesday. This come-and-go event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at 404 West Frontage Road South in Centerville.

Visitors can meet the crew, see the helicopter, and learn about St. Joseph Health EMS and Air Med 12.