Burkeville firefighters were frustrated after waiting over an hour for an ambulance to arrive after a 74-year-old Silsbee man was injured in a Wednesday evening crash. Meanwhile, Fire Chief Charles Duckworth says the EMS shortage has reached a crisis level with volunteer firefighters spending nearly 4 hours waiting for ambulances on Wednesday alone.
The accident occurred shortly before 6:00 on Highway 63 just west of the Sabine ATV Park.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sergeant Shana Clark said Steve Gaspard was driving a 2007 GMC pickup truck westbound at an unsafe speed during a rain shower, resulting in the truck hydroplaning and crashing into a tree.
Chief Duckworth said firefighters had to use the Jaws-of-life to extricate Gaspard, who was critically injured, and an ambulance didn't arrive until 1 hour and 8 minutes later. Gaspard was then transported to a Leesville hospital.
Duckworth said another call on Wednesday involved medical problems with a mental patient. Duckworth said it took 2 hours and 15 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at that scene.
Chief Duckworth, very frustrated, later said "This is a major problem with ambulance services that has been on going. This is totally unacceptable".\