AMBULANCE DISTRICT CELEBRATES OPENING OF REMODELED FACILITY
EDWARDS, Colo. – Feb. 20, 2004 – The Eagle County Health Service District (Eagle County Ambulance District) held a community open house yesterday to celebrate the formal opening of its newly remodeled and expanded headquarters in Edwards.
Nearly 125 people toured the new building, had their blood pressure checked, signed up for free CPR classes and gathered information on child car seat safety and cardiac health. The District also had demonstrations of its new Advanced Life Support training mannequin and an automated external defibrillator.
“Three years ago the Eagle County Health Service District adopted a long-range strategic plan addressing the emergency medical and ambulance transport needs of the community and how we would fulfill those needs,” said Lyn Morgan, General Manager of the District. “A key component of the plan is the remodel and expansion of the Edward’s facility, which I am proud to say has now been completed.”
Highlights of the facility include larger and improved working and living areas to better accommodate the additional staff required by growing call volume; a new facility built by the District for Mountain Rescue Vail to continue our long-term support for this essential community volunteer organization; and a new EMS and Public Safety classroom to accommodate not only a larger venue for our own needs but also those of allied emergency and health care providers.
“As before, we’ll also be able to host a limited number of non-profit and community meetings in the facility,” added Morgan.
The Eagle County Ambulance District was formed in 1982 in response to the growing need for ambulance and emergency medical services in eastern Eagle County. Since then, the District has responded to over 41,000 ambulance runs; treated and transported more than 26,000 patients; and performed over 3,000 patient transfers from Vail to other hospitals in the state.
“In just the past 10 years, we’ve logged over one million ambulance miles, many times in blizzards and over the two highest passes on the US Interstate system,” noted Morgan.
Other notable accomplishments of the District in its 21-year history include:
- Being one of the first agencies in Colorado to begin a community-wide Automatic External Defibrillator program, providing more than two dozen AED devices to various organizations in Eagle County for use during patient cardiac arrest. The District was instrumental in assisting the state in developing AED protocols;
- Being the first ambulance agency in the country to adopt an accident prevention program called Factor 1000, a software analysis program developed by NASA that uses established human performance factors in helping to identify potential areas of concern;
- Being the first, and still one of only two, ambulance agency in Colorado to become nationally certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.
- Establishing community outreach programs such as regular “community days” for senior citizens to have their blood pressure, oxygen levels, blood sugar levels and even heart rhythms checked;
- Working closely with the Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Patrols to provide the highest level of care for skiers and snowboarders.
“It takes a lot of talented people to accomplish what we have in the past 20 years, and I’m extremely proud of our current and past staffs, as well as everybody who has helped us over the years,” Morgan said.
The Eagle County Ambulance District serves 550 square miles of Eagle County, from Vail Pass to McCoy and has a staff of 44. It is one of two ambulance services in the state of Colorado, and one of less than 100 in the nation, to receive national accreditation status from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS), demonstrating the District’s voluntary compliance with nationally recognized standards of excellence. The District responded to approximately 3,100 calls in 2003 and has seen an average annual call volume growth of eight percent over the last 10 years.
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