Old Ambulances Save Lives And Bring New Hope To The People Of Honduras
Released_By: USANews Press Release Network
Date: 6/9/99
Time: 12:11:30 PM
For_Immediate_Release
Date of event: June 3, 1999
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Old Ambulances Save Lives And Bring New Hope To The People Of Honduras
Paramedics For Children (http://paramedicsforchildren.com)
is scouring the country for surplus ambulances, and emergency medical equipment
to take to Honduras. Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina Paramedics For
Children is an all volunteer organization dedicated to bringing aid to the
children of third world countries. The first ambulances will be transported by
boat to Honduras on July 17, where they will be reconditioned, and sent to
various villages throughout Honduras, with the first units being deployed in the
town of Copan Ruinas. Rodger Harrison director of Paramedics For Children
explained, "Emergency medical services of any type are non existent for many of
the the poor people in the out lying areas of Honduras. It's the children, and
the elderly who seem to suffer the most." Harrison got the idea of sending these
ambulances to Honduras after seeing, and experiencing first hand the effect of a
natural disaster that took place there last year. That was Hurricane Mitch, as
it slammed into Honduras causing millions of dollars in damages, and killing
some ten thousand Hondurans. Harrison went on to say" it takes a disaster like
this to show you just how bad things can get. Here in the USA we have thousands
of surplus ambulances, and rescue vehicles just sitting around, and going to
waste. If these units had been in place during Mitch we could have saved a lot
of people."
Founded in April of 1997 PFC has been active in Honduras for the past two
years, and was one of the first relief groups into Honduras after Hurricane
Mitch. Besides aiding the Hondurans in setting up all volunteer EMS services,
PFC also coordinates relief flights of food, and medicine into third world
countries such as Colombia, Jamaica, and Honduras. Last month PFC sent a cargo
plane load of much needed medical supplies into Honduras. Harrison went on to
say, "Because we are small we can mobilize fast, and react to any emergency that
we have funding to respond to, in fact, many of our contributors also volunteer
to go with us." Harrison also added, "We take great pride in the fact that all
of the money, and supplies we receive, are delivered, directly by us to the
people of Honduras. Our contributors like that a lot. After all, paramedics are
natural born problem solvers. We don't spend a lot of time talking, we just get
the job done."
As with any small charity, Paramedics For Children relies heavily upon the
private sector for contributions. For more background information on Paramedics
For Children please visit their web site at
http://www.paramedicsforchildren.com
, or call Rodger Harrison at 704-525-1121.
Contact Information:
Paramedics For Children 5000 Nations Crossing, Suite 222 Charlotte, NC 28217
704-525-1121 704-309-8819
http://www.paramedicsforchildren.com
email: rodger@paramedicsforchildren.com
