Health care
BY EMILY LINCKE
Health care guide
2025
Community Impact ’s annual Health Care Guide is here! This special edition explores pivotal developments shaping the Spring-Klein area’s medical landscape. Find the latest updates from hospitals in your backyard on Page 15. Our cover story examines the increase in stroke cases across Harris County and how you can prevent strokes in your household.
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What's inside
Get to know a local hospital CEO (Page 13)
Texas plans to expand medical cannabis access (Page 18)
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Low doses of ketamine, an anesthetic, can be a safe alternative to using the opioid fentanyl for pre-hospital pain management, according to a study conducted by a local emergency services district. Explained Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11, which provides ambulance services in parts of the north Houston region, conducted the ketamine study from March 1, 2022-June 1, 2023, according to an April 7 news release from the district. Paramedics commonly use ketamine for sedation, Jordan Anderson, study co-author and interim CEO, said in a May 6 interview. ESD 11 study deems ketamine e ective for patient pain
Ketamine
Fentanyl
“We wanted to be able to provide multiple avenues of pain management for patients,” Anderson said. Paramedics administered low-dose ketamine via a nebulizer for pain management to 163 out of 1,480 patients while the rest received fentanyl, according to the study posted on ESD No. 11’s website. The study found that ketamine is a safe and e ective way to treat “traumatic pain.” “Where fentanyl makes you not feel the pain, ketamine makes you not concerned with the pain,” Anderson said. Put in perspective Anderson said the bene ts of treating patients’ pain with low-dose ketamine over fentanyl include: • Less risk of lowering the patient’s blood pressure • Less stress for patients who may experience anxiety when receiving an IV • Eliminated risk of relapse for patients with a history of opioid addiction Looking ahead Anderson said other pre-hospital providers can now look at ESD No. 11’s data and could implement
Anesthetic
Opioid More risk of addiction
Less risk of addiction
Commonly used by paramedics Low cost for supplies and medication*
Treats pain by making patients notice it less Administered with a nebulizer*
Treats pain by making patients feel it less Administered by IV*
SOURCES: EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPARTMENT NO. 11, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE COMMUNITY IMPACT *NOTE: THESE CHARACTERISTICS APPLY TO EMERGENCY TRANSPORT SITUATIONS BY ESD NO. 11, BUT MAY NOT APPLY TO ALL MEDICAL SITUATIONS. similar protocols. “One of the things that I think is cool about pre-hospital 911 is that we don’t have compet- itors,” Anderson said. “We’re all very happy to share our data, read other people’s data and make choices that bene t our community.”
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SPRING KLEIN EDITION
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