Reliable ambulance service is now a reality for Bishop, Driscoll and Petronila, and the 911 Ambulance Task Force is gearing up to persuade voters to approve an ambulance district with the authority to levy taxes to permanently fund the ambulance service.

After getting the ambulance service up and running, the task force has gone a step further and succeeded in persuading the Nueces County Commissioners Court to place on the May ballot a proposition to create an ambulance district that would have the same boundaries of Nueces County Fire District No. 3.

According to paramedic Matthew Clark, the ambulance service, which has been up and running since Thursday afternoon, has already had five transports to local hospitals.

An update on the ambulance was presented to the Bishop Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees during a meeting Monday night by Iris Harlan, Bishop civic leader and a member of the task force, who was joined by other task force members.

“We would like to take time out to thank you all for your support and assistance with this service,” she said.

“If it is approved then we can began the process of receiving funds from taxes sometime in late 2010,” Harlan said.

The ambulance service, which is based in Driscoll, is currently being funded through donations that the task force collected over the past few months.

Anyone who needs assistance from the ambulance service or is interested in more information can call the office at (361) 387-9501.

Without the proposed ambulance service the closest ambulance would be 45 minutes away, task force members have noted.

Driscoll was chosen as the headquarters for the ambulance service because of its central location between Bishop and Petronila.