Liberty County’s EMS now has a new home for its administration – along with room to conduct training.

Officials cut the ribbon on the building, which is approximately 5,500 square feet, on September 3. The facility was built for just under $3 million, using proceeds from the special purpose local option sales tax.

“We are committed to upgrading and providing facilities that will help our staff be the best they can be,” said County Administrator Joseph Mosley.

One of the benefits of the new building is room to conduct training for emergency medical technicians, EMS Administrator Crystal Hensler acknowledged.

“Infrastructure is growing every single day,” she said. “This was a definite need for us in order to maintain the growth for our capacity. We saw an opportunity and we executed. It gives us the space to be functional as well as a training classroom that we envision seeing a future where we can bring in community partners.”

The ability to do training in-house is a boost to the department and the EMTs, Hensler added.

“It gives them a sense of excitement to see such a training capacity now,” she said. “Before, we had to rely on other departments, like EMA. That caused a strain on our training department. Now that equipment can stay centralized in one location.”

County commissioners approved the bid to construct the EMS building in December 2024, with Pope Construction as the contractor.

“This building is a result of a shared commitment to public safety and investing in our community’s future,” county commission Chairman Donald Lovette said. “I especially want to thank the voters of Liberty County. Every time our citizens support SPLOST, they are making an investment in projects that support the quality of life.”

The county EMS is fully staffed, Hensler said, and the number of calls it answers continues to grow. Hensler said they anticipate getting more than 10,000 calls for service this year.

“With the room and opportunity for growth, we do want to incorporate additional units, additional staffing to maintain with our call volume,” she said.