Commission Commits $540,000 In ARPA Funds To Practical POCUS

Crawford County commissioners on Tuesday voted to award Practical POCUS $540,000 from its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

Practical POCUS was founded by Chip Lange and provides point of care ultrasound (POCUS) training for medical professionals.

Lange will use $300,000 of the funds to rehab a building in Cuba that will be the training site.

The other $240,000 will ensure 240 training sessions valued at $1,000.

POCUS can be taught to any medical professional, including EMS, paramedics and those at Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital.

The goal is to educate those throughout Crawford County, but Lange — who teaches POCUS across the country — can offer the service locally.

Medical professionals from outside the county could potentially utilize the service.

Lange and his father, Bill, were present at the commission meeting on Tuesday.

Bill Lange told the commission they could get a discount on building materials if purchased by the end of the week.

Commissioners acted quickly, making Practical POCUS the first recipient of the $2.3 million made available to the county thus far.

Cathy Boero, representing a group called We The People, questioned commissioners over their decision to award more than a half million dollars to a private company rather than public entities that have applied for the funds thus far.

Commissioners said they are not ruling out awarding that money to municipalities, such as Bourbon (see related story), but are waiting to see if the criteria for ARPA changes.

If the criteria allows counties to use ARPA funds to improve roads and bridges, commissioners said they could use that money to tackle those.