MISSION — Firefighters and city officials here marked the beginning of its fire-based emergency medical services unit Wednesday morning, pushing their first ambulance into service in what the mayor hopes signals the possibility of the city becoming its own primary EMS provider.
After seeing the increase in the need for EMS, the city of Mission, which according to the mayor is still under a three-year contract with Med-Care EMS to provide emergency medical services, considered creating its own unit through the fire department.
City officials said at a ceremony Wednesday unveiling the new ambulance service that the department will act in a secondary capacity.
“The motivation was unfortunately the COVID (pandemic) that started two years ago,” said Gilbert Sanchez, fire chief of the Mission Fire Department. “The lack of resources in regards to equipment, treatment, the number of ambulances in service to the community — the city took a part in envisioning the need in regards to providing medical services.”
The $700,000 unit is funded between American Rescue Plan Act money and the fire department’s general fund.
“Now a lot of the stuff has already been purchased, the continued apparatus that we get will be more minimal,” Sanchez said.
According to Sanchez, the city will include both Med-Care EMS and the department’s unit in the budget.
Hidalgo County EMS previously served as the city’s primary provider until it filed for bankruptcy in 2021, followed by its CEO pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud.
Med-Care EMS has since provided the city with primary and secondary EMS services, the latter of which will now be the responsibility of the fire department’s unit.
As of right now, the fire department has one ambulance available along with 24 EMTs trained from the basic level to paramedic. The EMTs are scheduled to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Right now I want to assure the city of Mission that they have protection from Med-Care with the support of the fire department,” Sanchez said.
For Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza, the unit is a step toward the future of emergency medical services for the city. The program has been a project in the works for over the year which began by certifying firefighters as EMTs.
Although the fire department is currently limited to one unit, the city has plans to increase its fleet in the future.
“Honestly I don’t think that we’ll be ready for full primary service in three years but maybe shortly after,” Gonzalez Garza said. “My hope for this program is to one day be a full emergency medical service where we would be the primary caretakers for the ambulance service.”
