By Clayton Chaney
Staff Writer
On Jan. 19, the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office, (ACSO) Office of Emergency Management responded to a call for an agency assist to transport a patient to Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC).
According to Director of Emergency Operations Mike Le Roux, PSMC EMS responded to a call early in the morning on County Road 700 for an elderly woman who was in need of oxygen.
Le Roux explained that EMS responders were unable to drive the ambulance all the way up the patient’s drive way as it had not been plowed from snowfall received the night before.
Le Roux explained that the ACSO’s emergency operations has a Polaris Ranger UTV vehicle equipped with snow tracks to help with missions like this.
The UTV is also equipped with a patient bed in the back to transport patients.
He explained that EMS responders were able to hike up the patient’s driveway, which he estimated being a mile and a half long, and make contact in order to keep the patient stabilized until assistance showed up.
According to Le Roux, he arrived on scene with the UTV at approximately 12:47 p.m.
At this point, crews were able to successfully transport the patient down the driveway with the UTV and then into the ambulance to be transported to PSMC.
Le Roux noted that it was a smooth operation and the patient was in stable condition upon arriving at PSMC.
He also praised the ability of the agencies to work together and utilize each other’s resources in order to complete a successful mission.
“Its a good example of agency assist and the relationships we have with EMS,” Le Roux said.
