Presidio City Council talks new healthcare grant, funding for EMS training

News

By Sam Karas

February 8, 2023 605 PM

PRESIDIO — At Monday's meeting, Presidio City Council made strides in working to provide locals with quality healthcare. JD Newsom of the Big Bend Regional Hospital District and Troy Sparks of Presidio EMS both presented agenda items aimed at bolstering the city's cash-strapped medical services.

Newsom updated the crowd on a large grant that was awarded last summer to improve access to healthcare in Presidio and Terlingua. $5.5 million was set aside for both communities, in the hopes of opening a clinic in Terlingua for the first time in 20 years and to extend hours for the existing clinic in Presidio.

Presidio will receive the bulk of the funding. The package has two prongs: the creation of an after-hours clinic that will offer Presidians the opportunity to visit with a doctor on the weekends and a community paramedicine program that will equip existing EMS staff to provide preventative care. "It's going to be transformative for how we think about healthcare in Presidio," Newsom said.

The immediate goal of the grant is diverting south Brewster and Presidio county residents from long and costly ambulance rides to Alpine — the target is reducing transports by 20%, which would benefit both potential patients and the region's ailing ambulance fleet. "If we’re taking care of peoples’ health here in Presidio, we won't need to transport them," Newsom said.

The community paramedicine program is an important part of meeting that goal. Such programs train local first responders to make home visits and provide medical services that are typically only offered in a clinic — the logic is that if EMTs are able to provide preventative care, their services won't be needed in as many life-or-death situations.

Mayor John Ferguson and the council members in attendance agreed that this was great news for Presidio. "This is huge in the development of our community," he said.

Next on the agenda, Presidio EMS Director Troy Sparks asked Council for help funding paramedic training for local EMTs. The request applied retroactively to paramedic training for three staff members, but would ideally provide a framework for future EMTs to expand their training in exchange for a contracted two-year stint as a first responder in Presidio.

Council ultimately opted to budget for the past training, and Sparks plans to apply for grants to cover future opportunities.

Sparks explained that there are several levels of training that EMS providers can attain. EMTBs help package and transport patients, and with additional training they can become EMTAs, who can also provide IVs and certain medications with the approval of the department's medical director.

Paramedics can do it all: directly handle critical patients, provide medication and IV therapy, and intubate patients. They’re also qualified to administer and evaluate cardiology assessments — in most cases, using advanced monitoring to diagnose heart attacks during transport. Staff who aren't trained paramedics aren't technically qualified to diagnose heart conditions while en route to the hospital.

The lack of paramedics creates a perfect storm in Presidio, where heart-related conditions are common and hospital transport is long. Heart conditions need to be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible, which can be life-threatening for folks waiting on an ambulance or air transport. "Cardiac [conditions] down here are tremendous," Sparks said.

The 11-month paramedic course costs around $8,500 per student, but Sparks feels that the investment is worth it — and that there are grant-based opportunities the department is planning to pursue as well.

Providing incentive for potential paramedics to train in the Big Bend could make a big difference in emergency care in Presidio — and around the region, too. "We’re short on EMTs — Marfa's short, Terlingua's short," Sparks explained.

To cap off the healthcare updates at Monday's meeting, Newsom also announced that Lynette Brehm would be joining the Big Bend Regional Hospital District team as a community coordinator for Presidio.

The BBRHD will also be hosting a kickoff meeting for the grant-based projects in Presidio at the Health and Human Services office on Tuesday, February 21 at 10 a.m.

By Sam Karas