TEXAS CITY — Families preparing for the upcoming school year gathered at Coastal Health & Wellness Center on Wednesday morning for a community back-to-school event offering free sports physicals, vaccinations, school supplies and health education.

The event brought together healthcare providers, the Galveston County Health District, Coastal Health and Wellness, and the Galveston Area Ambulance Authority to help students head back to the classroom healthy and prepared.

Among the services offered were free sports physicals for middle and high school students planning to participate in athletics, marching band and other school activities.

Dr. Chris Garcia, medical director for Coastal Health & Wellness, said the physicals help identify medical conditions that could place students at risk during physical activity.

“We’re doing sports physicals, and what these are are a screen for athletes that are participating in any sort of activity or sports,” Garcia said.

Garcia said providers check vital signs, listen for heart abnormalities and ask questions about symptoms that could indicate an underlying medical condition requiring further evaluation.

“There’s some sudden death that we hear about every year, so this is a way to screen for that,” Garcia said.

In addition to sports physicals, the Galveston County Health District administered back-to-school immunizations, helping families meet state vaccine requirements before the first day of school.

Dr. Constance Almendarez, immunization program manager with the Galveston County Health District, said childhood vaccinations play an important role in protecting both individual students and the broader community from vaccine-preventable diseases.

“Our childhood vaccines help set us up for a lifetime of protection from vaccine-preventable diseases,” Almendarez said.

She noted that while Galveston County has not experienced a local outbreak, measles cases have recently been reported elsewhere in Texas, highlighting the importance of staying current on recommended immunizations.

The event also featured interactive demonstrations from the Galveston Area Ambulance Authority, giving children and parents an opportunity to tour an ambulance, learn about emergency medical services and practice CPR compressions on a training mannequin.

Deputy Chief Ian Davis said understanding what information to provide during a 911 call can help emergency responders arrive better prepared.

“The first thing a dispatcher is going to ask you is what’s your location, what’s a good callback number and what’s the nature of your call,” Davis said.

Davis also reminded motorists to slow down and move to the right when an ambulance is approaching with its emergency lights activated.

Organizers said the event was designed to make back-to-school preparations more convenient by bringing multiple community resources together in one location, allowing families to access healthcare services, school supplies and safety education during a single visit.