Mission’s fire-based emergency medical service is increasing its fleet.
The Mission city council approved the purchase of a third ambulance for its EMS service on Monday, with the department expecting to bring on additional personnel in the coming months.
With the council’s approval, the city will purchase a Type 1 Ambulance from Siddons-Martin Emergency Group for a total of $360,630.
That money will come from funds the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funds, that were initially allocated for a different expense, City Manager Randy Perez told the city council.
The funds were going to be used to upgrade the systems that monitor water levels and pressure for the city’s water towers, according to Perez.
“We eliminated most of those projects to accommodate for this purchase,” Perez told the council.
Councilman Ruben Plata seemed displeased that the council wasn’t made aware of those budget changes beforehand.
“It’s because you’re really moving money from one area to the other and I think, as a courtesy, let us know what is it that you changed,” Plata said. “I don’t like to just be moving money around without being very clear. That’s my only thing.”
Interim Fire Chief Douglas Williams explained that if they didn’t purchase the ambulance now, it would be another 36 to 42 months before another would be available.
Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza pointed out that, ultimately, the expense was in the name of public safety.
“We need to remember that what we’re spending this money on is on public safety and I think that we all agree that public safety is part of our biggest priority, I would say,” Gonzalez Garza said. “That we’re reallocating money from other line items to address our public safety, I think that’s something that I would be OK with. Definitely.”
The interim fire chief also addressed staffing concerns raised by Councilman Abiel Flores.
“I don’t want our units collecting dust,” Flores said. “If you’re telling me as the chief that we get this unit, we’re going to have the personnel to operate it, then I support it.”
Flores added he didn’t want to rush into something simply because they’re worried about missing out on an opportunity.
“I just want to be sure that we’re not rushing into something just because we’re told ‘Well, if we don’t get it, it’s going to take another 36 to 42 months,’” Flores said. “We’ve been told that before and we get units somehow available to us.”
Williams said there were a few firefighters who would be testing for their paramedic certification within the next couple of weeks while two paramedics were expected to complete their firefighter training in late March or early April.
Perez, the city manager, added that they currently have three shifts in their fire department that handles EMS. They have three paramedics and four individuals pending passage of tests.
Additionally, a deputy fire chief is attending paramedic school and also eligible for testing. They also have the two fire cadets who are already paramedics.
“With that, by the end of April, we’ll have nine paramedics on staff,” Perez said.
That would be the minimum needed for each unit of the three units — one per shift for each ambulance.
Perez said they are anticipating bringing another six paramedics on board by December, putting them at a total of 15.
In the near future, Perez said they will need to discuss if they will require additional staff to allow for a mobile intensive care unit to be available at all times.
“Because in order for us to have that room for vacations, sick leave and so forth from those paramedics, if we want to maintain an MICU unit at all times, we need to add additional personnel at that point,” Perez said.
While this would be the city’s third ambulance, only one is currently responding to calls as their second unit isn’t expected to be fully operational until April.
The third unit wouldn’t arrive until late April or early May and would then await further equipment before being ready to respond to calls.
Councilwoman Jessica Ortega proposed a workshop to discuss a projection of when the city’s fire-based EMS would be their primary provider. Currently, the city’s EMS is secondary to Med-Care EMS, a McAllen-based provider.
Gonzalez Garza said that was still a ways off but said they should continue working toward that, noting that the city has had to rely on EMS from Palmview and even Pharr to respond to calls within Mission.
“That means Med-Care has no units in the city and that means that our unit is out so we’re having to go to a third and fourth line,” Gonzalez Garza said. “So, definitely, the need is there and so I think we’re going in the right direction, we just need to move forward cautiously.”
