Los Pinos Fire Protection District has donated an ambulance to Southwest Colorado Community College for use in their EMT program.
College Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Troy Salazar was thrilled Wednesday, Aug. 19, when Los Pinos Chief Larry Behrens handed him the keys to the 1999 ambulance.
"This will be great for the EMS program and it gives students a practical tool to learn how to work out of an ambulance," Salazar said.
The vehicle was retired from the Ignacio department's fleet. The ambulance will be used to help train students as part of the college's EMS program. "It's one thing to learn CPR, but to do it in a moving ambulance, that is another story," Behrens said.
Deborah Schmitt, Pueblo Community College's chief academic officer and interim dean, concurred with Behrens' assessment.
"I am truly excited about the donation by the Los Pinos Fire Department of a 'retired ambulance,' " Schmitt said. "The college is proud to give this vehicle a second life while providing students a real-life learning laboratory on wheels. There is no classroom experience that compares with hands-on, experiential learning."
Salazar said he plans to get the ambulance painted with the college logo and will use it for student trainings at simulations, as well as to give them the opportunity to gain additional experience by riding in it.
"Whether you are stopping or starting or going over bumps, you feel everything back there," Salazar said, adding that having the ambulance also will serve as an important tool for helping students learn how to load patients in and out of the back.
Chief Behrens added that "being in the back of an ambulance is a whole different world." He also noted he is happy that the retired ambulance will be put to good use at SCCC. "I don't like to see an EMS apparatus sit, weather and rust," he stated. "It's nice it will get some new life and be used as a learning tool for EMS students."
Fall semester started at SCCC on Aug. 24 and the spring semester begins Jan. 18. Visit www.EnrollSouthwest.org for more information, or stop by one of one of the college's two campuses in Durango at 701 Camino del Rio and between Mancos and Cortez at 33057 Hwy. 160, or call 247-2929 or 564-6200. Southwest Colorado Community College is a branch of Pueblo Community College.
