LCRA, Bluebonnet Co-op award $15,900 grant to Bastrop County First Responders

Two new cardiac monitors will provide advanced life support

May 11, 2022

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas – Thanks to a $15,900 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, Bastrop County First Responders will purchase two new heart monitors to improve emergency care for cardiac patients.
 
The Community Development Partnership Program grant will allow the nonprofit organization to replace cardiac monitors that were recently de-certified for use under new federal guidelines. The new monitors will be able to diagnose symptoms of a heart attack; act as defibrillators; track and adjust a patient’s heart rhythm; and perform 12-lead electrocardiogram tests.
 
Bastrop County First Responders, a nonprofit organization whose members include paramedics and emergency medical technicians, is contributing $4,000 in matching funds toward the purchase.
 
“These monitors are required for us to provide advanced life support,” said James Green, president of Bastrop County First Responders. “With these, we can utilize our paramedics to their full potential, and they can provide more medicines and more therapies to patients.”
 
Green said Bastrop County First Responders frequently provides stand-by emergency service at public events across the county, including rodeos and car shows. The group’s paramedics and EMTs respond to calls in their personal vehicles.
 
“We’re kind of like a volunteer fire department, but it’s just for EMS,” Green said. “We’re available to provide more hands if needed.”
 
The de-certification of his organization’s older heart monitors came as an “unbudgeted surprise,” Green said. “We had pretty late notice that this was happening, and we were behind the eight ball. Without this grant, we’d really be up the creek without a paddle right now.”
 
The community grant is one of 36 grants awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
 
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July. More information is available at lcra.org/cdpp.

About LCRA
The Lower Colorado River Authority serves customers and communities throughout Texas by managing the lower Colorado River; generating and transmitting electric power; providing a clean, reliable water supply; and offering outdoor adventures at more than 40 parks along the Colorado River from the Texas Hill Country to the Gulf Coast. LCRA and its employees are committed to fulfilling our mission to enhance the quality of life of the Texans we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCRA was created by the Texas Legislature in 1934 and receives no state appropriations. For more information, visit lcra.org.

About Bluebonnet
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of the largest electric cooperatives in Texas and has been serving its members since 1939. Bluebonnet serves more than 118,000 meters and owns and maintains 12,000 miles of power lines, located across more than 3,800 square miles within 14 Central Texas counties. Bluebonnet’s service area stretches from Travis County to Washington County, and from Milam County to Gonzales County. For more information about Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, go to bluebonnet.coop and follow the co-op on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contacts

LCRA:
Clara Tuma
512–578–3292
[email protected]

Bluebonnet:
Will Holford
512-332-7955
[email protected]