First responder agencies deliver annual reports to commissioners

Leaders on Lavaca County first responder crews went before Lavaca County commissioners last week to share some insight on the activities of their various agencies.
Michael Furrh, EMS director for both Colorado and Lavaca counties delivered his annual report of local EMS activities, while Sheriff Micah Harmon spoke on various law enforcement issues facing the county and how his team worked to manage it.
Furrh said they had 2,112 total transports in 2023, with 430 transfers to area hospitals plus another 21 air-medic flights throughout the year.
Furrh reported they spent 127,987.5 minutes on calls and traveled 46,877.8 miles with patients on board.
Furrh said their chute time, which is the time from being notified to enroute to their destination, averaged 28 seconds and they had a response time of 11 minutes and 24 seconds most places in the county’s 1,000-square-mile territory.
He listed the top five destinations that included 500 to Lavaca Medical Center, 276 to DeTar in Victoria, 181 to Citizens in Victoria, 177 to Yoakum Community Hospital and 82 to Gonzales Memorial Hospital.
Regarding accomplishments, Furrh said they changed their billing to Emergicon and expanded their training site to be a National Association of EMT’s official training site.
Furrh said they purchased new cardiac monitors, updated their clinical care guidelines, purchased three used Frazer ambulances and taught CPR classes to school districts with over 100 senior students being taught.
In addition, Furrh said Lavaca County assistant chief Tim Decker received the “Rising Star” award for the region at the Mid Coast Hurricane Conference and they also sent two employees to the Texas EMS Conference in Austin, two employees to Education by the Sea in Port Aransas and five employees to the Texas EMS Alliance Leadership Conference in Marble Falls. Also, through SB 8 funding they were able to send five employees to Paramedic School.
Lastly regarding himself, Furrh said he was elected as President-elect of the Texas EMS Alliance and will be appointed president in 2025. Furrh was also appointed by the Governors Trauma Advisory Council and represented Lavaca County and rural EMS through the governor’s office.
Racial Profiling Report
The court approved the Lavaca County Sheriff’s Racial Profiling report that has been filed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
The report showed the department conducted 403 traffic stops with the race/ethnicity having 254 White, 100 Hispanic/Latino, 46 Black and three Asian/Pacific Islander involved in the stops.
Out of the 293 stops involving males, there were 169 White, 89 Hispanic/Latino, 34 Black, and one Asian/Pacific Islander.
Regarding the 110 females stopped there were 85 White, 11 Hispanic/Latino, 12 Black and two Asian/Pacific Islander.
The report also included types of violations leading to the stops as well as whether or not searches were conducted and if contraband was discovered.
The report said there were 191 citations issued and 197 written warnings.