TAA Names Belinda Richter 2004 Joe B. Brown Recipient

It all started twenty years ago when Belinda Richter needed a first aid class in order to take her Girl Scouts on a camping trip.  No first aid courses were available, but an ECA course was being held in Flatonia.  She decided to take the course for those reasons.  Little did she know that one day, it would turn into a career.  Frankie Pechacek, Supervisor over the course at the time, influenced her to work as a volunteer for the ambulance service.  Soon after that, her interest flourished, in which she enrolled in her first EMT course.

Upon completion, she worked steadily as an EMT for the service and increased her level to EMT-Intermediate after 5 years of her EMT certification.  She also became the Supervisor for the Flatonia area.  After several years, she was not satisfied with merely being an Intermediate.  With that in mind, she completed a Paramedic course held by Fayette County EMS.

With times changing, as well as the profession, the sheriff appointed Belinda as South-end Coordinator, which increased her responsibilities over 2 precincts.  During this time, EMS was experiencing a personnel shortage.  It was just a matter of time before the service would have to hire medics from other areas in order the keep the ambulance afloat.  The only facilities Flatonia had for their service had been a garage to park their ambulance in.  So, Belinda decided to coordinate a building project that consisted of numerous fundraisers to build a facility.  Today, the building consists of 2 bay areas with living quarters for medics.

Approximately one year later, a new EMS Director was appointed and Belinda was promoted to Deputy Director.  Entering the administration section of EMS was a new and challenging position for her.  She started dealing with budgets and day-to-day operations of EMS.  One of those financial responsibilities consisted of applying for grants.  She decided to apply for a local project grant through TDH to purchase upgrades for LifePak 12s for the units.  The grant was awarded to the service in the amount of $ 70,000.00.

Along with budget accomplishments, she was always making sure shifts were covered and the service continued to run in a professional manner.  She applied again next year for another local project in hopes to obtain LifePak 12 upgrades to be equipped with 12 lead EKG capabilities.  This would become a great asset to the level of care in the service as well as in the community.  Low and behold, the service received the grant.

With all her accolades in hand, she became the director of Fayette County EMS in April, 2001.  She voiced her concerns on certain operations of EMS such as personnel shortages, maintenance of units, and maintaining ALS capabilities.  She devised a plan to keep the service from folding.  The primary goal she faced was to convince Commissioners Court that bringing Fayette County’s service from volunteer to full-time was a critical issue.  In order for EMS to serve the county, this had to be done.  With the Commissioners Court outstanding relationship with her, they decided to convert Fayette County’s service from volunteer to full-time.  This plan consisted of 18 full time medics, 4 full time captains, and part-time employees.  The captains would work 24 hours shifts with 72 hours off duty.  They would have the responsibility for everyday operations of the EMS system during their time on call.  One of the problems the service was experiencing was competing with urban paramedic salaries while maintaining a supreme level of care for patients.  The captain’s program would solve this problem by creating a roaming system and provide ALS care throughout the county.  This program has been very successful and has proven itself time and again.  Now, these captains are able to respond throughout the county (occasionally as first responders), aid crew members in communications with families as well as in operations, improve response times, and increase the level of patient care.  With the large rural area we cover, captains are imperative.

In addition, she implemented a first responder’s program for all the first departments.  She teaches EMS classes for our local program at no charge for her services.   She also offers CPR sessions for the public in her spare time.  She remains very active in the local civic organizations to raise monies for charity and scholarships for the young society in the County.   She also served on the local school board for 11 years.   She always dedicates herself, proven by the fact she still rides on the unit if needed, in case of personnel shortage.  She was awarded the EMS Administrator of the Year Award in 2002.  Her latest accomplishment was that the EMS service was awarded a local project grant for the year of 2004 for the purchase of a new ambulance.

Her hard work, constant dedication to the service, and professionalism are all reasons why Fayette County EMS continues to grow and be the best service it can be.

Fayette County EMS has been a member of the Texas Ambulance Association for several years.  Since her appointment as Director of EMS, she has made sure to be present herself, or appointed a representative to be at the majority of all TAA meetings.

prepared by Brett Coghlan