DALLAS — Dallas and Fort Worth-area hospitals will receive at least 250 medical and special needs patients when air evacuations begin Saturday in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav.

The news was announced late Friday morning during a statewide conference call between emergency managers. WFAA listened in on the call in the basement at Dallas City Hall.

Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, more than 1,100 patients will be flown out of Beaumont and Port Arthur on state and federal aircraft as part of the National Disaster Medical System.

The patients will be split between hospitals in D-FW, San Antonio and El Paso.

"So we'll get — it sounded like 250 people brought in to D/FW Airport starting tomorrow," said Kenny Shaw the director of Dallas Emergency Management. "Every city that can will send ambulances over there when they come in, and we'll distribute them out to the hospitals that have open beds."

The C-130 military cargo planes participating in the air evacuations will start landing at D/FW Airport on Saturday.

It's uncertain which local hospitals will participate in the patient transfer, but but the state has confirmed the bed space is available in North Texas.

In addition, 65 buses operated by Dallas County Schools will be leaving North Texas during the noon hour on their way to the Texas Gulf Coast to assist with evacuations.

State emergency planners have asked for a total of 750 buses to help move evacuees from staging areas in Beaumont, Houston, and Texas City, which is near Galveston.

The Dallas County buses will be among that fleet to be used in case evacuations are ordered along the coast over the weekend.

E-mail jwhitely@wfaa.com