Residents of Montezuma and Dolores counties raised $53,000 to match a state grant that funds automatic stretchers and CPR devices in Southwest Health System’s ambulances.
The stretchers lift and load patients, then are secured to the floor of the ambulance with the press of a button.
It’s safer for everyone, the responders and injured person alike, said Dakota May, an emergency medical technician.
The automatic nature of the new stretchers means the EMTs can avoid straining themselves when lifting and lowering people into the vehicle.
“Some of those patients are pretty big, and some of the help is pretty small,” said Walter Henes, a donor at the event.
Plus, in the event of a crash, the cot is secured: It isn’t going anywhere.
“It’s pretty much an industry standard now,” said May. “We’re using them every day.”
The new stretchers are interchangeable, meaning they’ll work in all Southwest Health’s ambulances and others in the surrounding area.
As far as the CPR devices go, it works for most everyone, so long as they’re older than 8 years old and the device can fit around their body.
https://youtube.com/shorts/aXcKLxEijF8?feature=shareIt’s great because it frees up hands, so responders can start inserting IVs, for example, while the machine is giving CPR, May said.
Humans can do CPR well for less than five minutes, and, if there’s more than one responder present, they ought to take turns administering it every 2 minutes, said EMS Chief Matt Lindsay.
“Like the old saying, you can pretty much set it and forget it,” Lindsay said.
To celebrate the new equipment and donors that made it possible, the EMS Department and Southwest Memorial Hospital Foundation put on an event Wednesday afternoon.
They invited donors, the hospital staff and first responders to attend.
“We’ve needed their services and they’ve been there for us,” said Robby Henes, a donor at the event.
There’s an excess of $20,000 they raised that will go toward future projects, said Karla Demby, the vice president on the Southwest Memorial Hospital Foundation Board.
“Money is a tool – not a gift. Just like a hammer. It’s no good if you don’t use it,” said Walt Henes. “If you don’t use the hammer, it will rust.”
