Deaths like this can (sometimes) be avoided if the Montgomery County Hospital District Board pushed for a level 1 Trauma Center in Montgomery County.
Dallas, with a smaller population, has twice as many major trauma centers as the Houston area.
About ten years ago the state announced that funds had been collected from DWI offenders for expanding Texas trauma care. It was available for trauma centers. I ran for the MCHD Board in 2006 with the promise of going after the money and building one in Montgomery County.
A group of Woodlands lawyers put a lot of money into a flyer claiming I wanted to raise taxes for medical care for illegals from Mexico, which was not my goal. (And we wonder why so many decent people don't want to get into politics).
I don't think the state trauma money was every spent, and Montgomery County trauma care is still inadequate. The last level 1 Trauma Center for Texas was built 24 years ago.
Most people know me as a journalism teacher, but I have been a medical writer and paramedic for 35 years. I've seen lots of children die because of the distance to a level 1 trauma center. The Golden Hour means a child should be in surgery within 60 minutes from the accident. Even with helicopters, this timeline often cannot be met.
Ben Taub and Memorial Herman are a long way from New Caney and Splendora.
