Peek inside the private side of EMS with Windsor
Windsor EMS in El Paso
Earn Credit at FREE EMS Lecture series events in 2025
Medics can earn continuing education credits at upcoming EMS Lecture Series events on UTMB campuses.
May 2 at UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital Campus
Scan to RSVP by April 30:
Aug. 1 at UTMB Health League City Campus
Scan to RSVP by July 30:
Events take place from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Lunch and parking are free of charge for in-person attendees.
Participants can earn 4 EUs for attending in person and taking part in the skills portion, and 3 EUs for attending the virtual meeting.
For more information, contact Richard Arocho at riarocho@utmb.edu or visit utmbhealth.com/ems.
About THE DISPATCH
The Dispatch is a publication of The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) and is produced by UTMB’s Office of Marketing and Communications for our EMS partners. The purpose of this publication is to celebrate the incredible work of the EMS agencies in our communities while sharing news about the services available at UTMB Health.
This newsletter is focused on telling your stories, answering your questions and sharing your successes. Send us your questions, your story ideas, your photos or any EMS-related news you’d like to brag about to ems@utmb.edu.
EMS Dispatch Crossword Puzzle
Down:
[1] quoted in Windsor Story
[2] mascot of Capt. Stacy Kohn’s high school
[3] campus with recent chest reaccreditation
[6] anniversary for 2024 EMS week celebration
Solution is on the back page*
Across:
[3] last name of EMS chief quoted in full circle story
[4] service line involved in Stroke
Certification in Clear Lake
[5] month for next lecture series
[7] important to keep an eye on this and temperature when transporting a neonate
[8] communications specialist with UTMB Health
Peek inside the private side of EMS with Windsor
When Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Houston area in August 2017, the Windsor Emergency Medical Services team was on the front lines, alongside all of the region’s local EMS agencies, responding to the scenario and assisting those in need.
That’s just one example of how Windsor EMS, a private EMS company, has shown up for this community for the better part of two decades.
Celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2024, Windsor EMS, based in Webster, TX,
covers the entire Houston metropolitan area. With services spanning from Mount Belvieu to Brookshire, all the way up to Huntsville, there are more than 24 ambulances and approximately 125 employees who help ensure people get the medical and transport assistance they need.
“We handle a lot of transfers from hospital to hospital,” says Alton Henderson, director of Business Development for the company. “We help take a load off of the 9-1-1 system by giving callers a different option in non life-threatening emergencies.”
Henderson, who has been with the company for more than 12 years starting first as a medic before working his way up to the role he holds now, is quick to point out that the list of services Windsor can provide is far and wide.
Beyond just doing transfers and closing the gap for traditional 9-1-1 ambulance services locally when needed, they also travel across the state to help other areas that have fewer resources than Houston.
“We’ve provided support in El Paso and Brownsville,” said
Henderson. “We were deployed for 13 months providing support at the Texas border.
“Every job and contract is a bit different, but we’re equipped to meet the needs of them all.”
The COVID pandemic was a time when the Windsor EMS crews frequently found themselves called to service out of town.
“People were getting sick—including members of the local EMS teams,” said Henderson. “So, as call volumes continued to increase with the spreading sickness, we were able to be there for those communities.”
When talking about the work the Windsor crews do, Henderson is quick to mention it’s not as flashy as what might be found working with a “traditional” 9-1-1 crew supporting a municipality.
“The vast majority of what we support is medical patients, not the trauma cases that make the headlines,” he said, mentioning, though, that they are equipped to handle the more severe issues such as chokings and gunshots—it’s just a matter of where the need is at the time.
Around the holidays one need they see
arise is transporting loved ones who have mobility issues to important traditions and get-togethers.
“We’ve done everything from taking people to weddings, birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinners,” he said. “Even the zoo. Our side of EMS provides a way to bring people together and it does get particularly busy during the holidays.”
Dedicating more than half of his career to serving with Windsor—which also provides occasional first aid support to large-scale
events—Henderson mentions that he didn’t learn much about this side of the business while training to be a medic.
“I love spreading awareness about all that we do,” he said. “Without services like ours, so much is impacted. Hospitals would have to have every single specialty available to patients since there wouldn’t be anyone to transfer between facilities. We’re vital to hospitals and health care, especially when you’re supporting the communities around the largest medical center in the world.”
“Every job and contract is a bit different, but we’re equipped to meet the needs of them all.”
- Alton Henderson
Director of Business Development at Windsor EMS
Full circle moment for Friendswood ISD EMT Program
During the summer of 2024, a football player with Friendswood High School was treated for heat-related illness and transported to the hospital by members of the Friendswood Emergency Medical Services team.
While making a call like that during a hot Texas summer may not be unexpected for Captain Stacy Kohn, one of the medics attending to the patient, the situation was a bit of a full-circle moment for the Friendswood High School class of 2007 graduate.
“I was actually a member of the first EMT class facilitated between College of the Mainland and Friendswood High School,” said Kohn, who was accompanied by Emergency Medical Technician Paige Hennighan during the call. “To be called back to my alma mater and given the
chance to help out a fellow Mustang with the skills I gained all those years ago was beyond special.”
The Friendswood ISD EMT Program has evolved quite a bit since Kohn was a student there. When Kohn was taking the class, it was held at the Friendswood Fire Station and current Friendswood EMS Chief Lisa Camp, who is also a Friendswood High graduate, taught the course along with her
colleague Roy Hunter.
“It’s so interesting seeing all these elements come together, all for the betterment of this great community we serve,” said Camp. “Kohn being there for that student is evidence in action that programs like the EMT training initiative with Friendswood ISD are important, effective and worthwhile.”
For Kohn, the impact of the program she had access to is palpable.
“I have been fortunate to create a pretty awesome career here in my hometown because of the opportunity I was given in high school,” she said.
Courses for the EMT training program are part of FISD’s dual-credit partnership with College of the Mainland. In 2022, the program acquired an ambulance simulator thanks to money from a UTMB President’s Cabinet grant written in partnership with the Friendswood ISD Education Foundation.
Stacy Kohn
More information about these programs can be found on the Friendswood High School Career & Technical Education website.
EMS WEEK—
A look back at 2024 festivities
In honor of 2024 marking the golden anniversary of EMS Week, festivities and snacks included all things golden, from golden Oreos and Goldfish to Rold Gold pretzels and more.
To show our appreciation for our first responder partners in the field, all the snacks were placed into an EMS Week branded backpack, along with decals and other items.
The UTMB Health Community Engagement team and Physician Liaison and Marketing Associate Richard Arocho visited area agencies to distribute the goods and thank partners for their unending service to the community.
SAVE THE DATE
Plans are underway now for EMS Week 2025, which is scheduled for May 18-24.
birthday party for local man Chest pains crash
On his 45th birthday, Justin Wenner got a very unexpected gift—a trip to the UTMB Health League City Urgent Care Clinic that inevitably landed him in the UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital Catheterization Lab for treatments and repairs he needed after having a heart attack earlier that day.
Wenner was unaware he was at any risk, but when he started having chest pains that day, he knew something wasn’t right. That’s what led him to seek help at urgent care in the first place. Clinicians there knew his case needed to be escalated as soon as possible.
“I’ve completely overhauled my health and changed my lifestyle. I’m grateful for those who were there to help me get the care I needed.”
- Justin Wenner, Patient at UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital Campus
Transferred to the Emergency Department in League City before being taken north by ambulance to the UTMB Health Clear Lake Hospital Campus, Wenner would walk away from the experience with more than adding heart attack to his list of medical history.
“During the experience, they also discovered I was diabetic,” said Wenner.
Fast forward more than a year since that fateful day, and Wenner’s health has done a complete 180.
“I’ve completely overhauled my health and changed my lifestyle,” he said. “I’m grateful for those who were there to help me get the care I needed. From the team members at UTMB Health to the first responders who ensured I got where I needed to go quickly and safely, it was truly a collaborative effort.”
Justin Wenner with colleagues and UTMB Health representatives.
Having with hand hygiene
As people on the frontlines of serving the community, first responders and health care professionals have to pay extra special attention to hand hygiene.
While each entity or organization may have its own specific protocols or procedures for ensuring individuals have the clean hands they need to do their jobs, there is general guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that touts the standard 20-second scrub rule.
To help add some fun to an activity they all do multiple times a day, members of the UTMB community are taking a pause from their daily routines to belt out 20-second snippets of some of their favorite songs.
“The thought behind the initiative is to get people excited about something very routine and mundane like washing your hands,” said Margaret Battistelli, UTMB Health communications specialist and the individual who gets credit for launching the crooning campaign that is currently running across all UTMB Health campuses. “Just because we have to do something, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun!”
So, the next time you go to wash your hands, consider singing 20 seconds of your favorite song instead of the tired old “Happy Birthday” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
For some other inspiration, check out this video of Dr. Dwight Wolf, UTMB Child Psychologist, singing ‘Galveston.’
Top Things for EMS When Transporting
To help ensure some of the most fragile patients— neonates—are handled with care, here are five tips from UTMB assistant professor of Pediatrics Dr. Maria FrancoFuenmayor on how to transport them safely and effectively.
01
Ensure that the baby is properly restrained regardless of illness severity. Proper positioning during transport is important for everyone’s safety and to render treatment most effectively.
02
Know how to position equipment for vital-sign monitoring. For example, pulse oximetry can be wrapped around the wrist or on the foot.
Health care professionals and Emergency Medical Services providers are partners in care. It takes both of these teams working together to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients. Passionate about this mission, Dr. Franco-Fuenmayor serves as the co-director of the UTMB Pediatrics Preemie Clinic.
Dr. Maria Franco-Fuenmayor
To Know a Neonate
03
Keep an eye on the temperature and glucose, as neonates are predisposed to hypothermia and hypoglycemia. A hypothermic baby can get themselves in trouble quickly including getting hypoglycemic. Checking glucose can help identify potential causes and ensure prompt treatment.
04
Be prepared to manage their airway. Respiratory distress can lead to bradycardia and can be followed by apnea. Neonates are obligate nose breathers and suctioning can be helpful. Following the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) considers the differing physiology in the neonatal period.
Have something you’d like health care teams to know? Email ems@utmb.edu.
References:
Aziz K, Lee HC, Escobedo MB, Hoover AV, Kamath-Rayne BD, Kapadia VS, Magid DJ, Niermeyer S, Schmölzer GM, Szyld E, Weiner GM, Wyckoff MH, Yamada NK, Zaichkin J. Part 5: neonatal resuscitation: 2020 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2020;142(suppl 2):S524–S550.
Duby R, Hansen M, Meckler G, Skarica B, Lambert W, Guise JM. Safety Events in High Risk Prehospital Neonatal Calls. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2018 Jan-Feb;22(1):34-40
Insoft, R. M., Schwartz, H. P., Romito, J., & Alexander, S. N. (2016). Guidelines for air and ground transport of neonatal and pediatric patients. American Academy of Pediatrics.
Lyng J, Adelgais K, Alter R, et al. (2021): Recommended Essential Equipment for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Ground Ambulances 2020: A Joint Position Statement, Prehospital Emergency Care, DOI: 10.1080/10903127.2021.1886382
The National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials. (2022, March). Clinical & Evidence-Based Guidelines - National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials. Accessed at: https:// nasemso.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_ id=157064&module_id=701974
05
Babies can have notoriously difficult IV access. If you’re unable to place an IV, intraosseous (IO) can be considered based on availability of equipment, training, and experience.
UTMB Clear Lake Campus earns
Chest Pain Center Reaccreditation
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) Clear Lake Campus was recently reaccredited as a Chest Pain Center through the American College of Cardiology following an extensive 12-month review.
Chest Pain Center Accreditation, first earned by the campus in 2021, is a quality improvement program designed for hospital cardiovascular teams that are focused on the efficient and effective care of acute coronary syndrome patients.
There are three types of accreditation designations awarded by the American College of Cardiology—UTMB’s
reaccreditation includes the Primary PCI designation.
The Clear Lake Campus has a 24/7 Cath lab team and interventional cardiologist on call ready to care for cardiac emergencies. Once the cardiac team is activated, they respond in less than 30 minutes—a standard that helps decrease mortality and improve outcomes for patients.
“We know there’s a huge need in the community for quality cardiology care that people can trust,” said Ann Varghese, administrator for the UTMB Health Clear Lake and League City campuses. “The team here works hard every day to meet that need and earning this reaccreditation is just one example of that.”
Clarissa Ortiz, a Cardiac Nurse Manager in Clear Lake, was an integral part of the
reaccreditation process, but she is the first to call out what a collaborative effort it is to make something like this happen.
“So many people were involved in this process,” said Ortiz. “It’s hard to name them all but I want to give a special shout out to Dickinson EMS Director Robert Robbins, he was instrumental in meeting with the surveyors. He answered questions at great length about our EMS protocols, so we thank him and all our EMS partners for participating in the survey and supporting UTMB and the communities we collectively serve.”
Scan the QR code for more information on Chest Pain Center Accreditation.
a Comprehensive Stroke Center UTMB Clear Lake Campus recognized as
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) at Clear Lake Campus has received certification from DNV Healthcare USA as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, reflecting the highest level of competence for treatment of serious stroke events and complications.
With extensive experience in certifying stroke centers around the world, DNV is a trusted certifying body that ensures high-quality stroke care.
“We are excited to achieve this prestigious certification almost five years from opening these doors,” said Michelle Vu, service line director, Neurosciences, and instructor for Advanced Stroke Life Support at UTMB. “This certification means that the UTMB
Clear Lake Campus is capable of providing high-quality care to high-acuity stroke patients.”
The DNV Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification is based on standards set forth by the Brain Attack Coalition and the American Stroke Association. It affirms that the UTMB Clear Lake Campus addresses the full spectrum of stroke care—diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and education— and establishes clear metrics to evaluate outcomes.
Comprehensive stroke centers typically are the largest and best-equipped hospitals that can treat any kind of stroke or stroke complication. In a growing number of states, stroke center certification determines to which facility a patient should be taken for the most appropriate, reimbursable care.
“Achieving certification shows commitment to excellence,” DNV President Kelly Proctor said. “And it helps demonstrate to your community that you are performing at the highest level.”
DNV is a global independent certification, assurance and risk management provider that advances safety and sustainable performance, sets industry benchmarks and drives innovative solutions.
Certifications enable customers and stakeholders to make critical decisions with confidence, continually improve and sustainably realize long-term strategic goals.
UTMB’s comprehensive neuroscience care treats seizures, aneurysms, spinal disorders and movement disorders. Additional information about UTMB Health’s comprehensive stroke care team is online.
Scan the QR code for more information about UTMB Health’s comprehensive stroke care team.
ON SHIFT
IN THE SNOW
While the majority of people in the region were able to enjoy the historical Jan. 21 snow day with their friends and family, members of area EMS agencies were doing what they always do: working to keep our communities safe and healthy.
Despite being on shift, crew members made the best of it, snapping photos around their stations and vehicles to capture the memorable moment for posterity.
