If we have learned anything throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been just how important those digital connections are to our way of life. Whether it was working remote or virtual classrooms, rural areas struggled or succeeded, in part, based on the availability of high-speed internet access in their area.
Outside the home, another sector dealt with unprecedented workload and stressors: Emergency Services.
Paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement, and other emergency service providers across the globe had to adapt to and overcome challenges in the face of a health crisis, but many rural emergency service providers did this all with limited access to the high-speed internet enjoyed by metropolitan areas.
It’s an issue faced by county hospitals and volunteer fire departments across small town Texas that was compounded when a virus forced so much life-saving communication online. With 75% of Texas counties designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) and/or Medically Underserved Areas (MUA), adding crippling internet speeds or bogged down patient databases left some of these rural providers flatlined.
YK Communications is honored to serve rural emergency service providers just like Danevang Volunteer Fire Department. Though the last couple of years have brought plenty of concern to our volunteers, the last thing on their mind was a worry about their critical communications equipment.
Through wind, rain, and global pandemics alike, rural broadband providers are bringing critical infrastructure to those who arguably need it most.
Thank you to all our rural emergency service providers and medical professionals, sincerely. We’re proud to serve you across Ganado, Louise, El Campo, Danevang, and Markham, Texas.
YK Communications has been named a Smart Rural CommunitySM (SRC) provider by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. SRC is a national network of communities powered by innovative rural broadband providers that are building a brighter future for small town America. The program promotes rural broadband and its role in supporting innovative economic development, effective education, efficient energy distribution and use, state-of-the-art healthcare and other important issues for rural America.
For more information about YK Communications’ SRC designation, how we’re serving communities in Ganado, Louise, El Campo, Danevang, and Markham, or services available in your area, contact our team at 361-771-3334.
