PRESIDIO — Last week, Joel Nuñez of the Presidio ISD Police Department announced that the district was making progress on a long-term goal: offering students the opportunity to earn an EMT certification before they graduate. The program will be offered in cooperation with Odessa College, which already provides PISD students with a number of options to earn college credit while they’re still in school.
The program could help give struggling local EMS departments a break. Emergency medical care has long been a topic of concern in the Big Bend region, and the issue bubbled over in 2021, when Alpine’s sole ambulance driver passed away, leaving north Brewster County without critical resources. Since then, officials from across the tri-county have been dreaming up a cooperative way to relieve strain on the region’s beleaguered emergency services.
Local departments are grappling with equipment and staffing shortages, which naturally boil down to issues with funding. Presidio is no exception, and has been dealing with chronic ambulance issues — routine 170-mile round trip rides put significant wear and tear on the fleet.
Recruiting medical experts and first responders to live in a place as remote as Presidio is no small feat. “As a law enforcement officer and medic, I have seen the hardship of staffing medical-related positions in our town,” Nuñez said.
Despite the bleak prognosis, there have been a few positive developments to celebrate. Presidio and Terlingua recently received a $5.5 million grant from the USDA toward bolstering access to healthcare. Presidio’s community paramedicine program — which equips EMTs to also serve as regular healthcare providers for elderly and indigent locals — has been a resounding success.
Presidio is small and very remote, and EMS is not the only service left lacking. PISD offers certification programs in a number of career paths from welding to criminal justice. The school district has a mantra: “Let’s grow our own.”
That’s also the philosophy behind the new EMT certification program, which is geared toward seniors who submit an application that includes their reasoning for wanting to pursue emergency medicine.
Classroom instruction will happen on campus at PHS during the regular school day, with a few field trips to take advantage of Odessa College’s resources, like a recently-constructed simulation hospital. Students will also be required to complete “clinicals,” or work in the field, and ambulance ride-alongs. The course will be taught by Saul Pardo and Stefanie Rivero, PHS graduates with experience in emergency medicine.
Students who successfully complete their coursework will be eligible to take the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians State Exam, with three opportunities to pass. Successful exam scores earn them an EMT certification from the Texas Department of State Health Services, and their certification can be used anywhere in the United States.
Superintendent Carmen Rubner was grateful to Odessa College and excited about the positive change the program could bring to Presidio. “Presidio ISD will continue to look for programs that not only benefit our students, but our community,” she said.