Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Community.
Heroes of Hope, a podcast wherewe shine a light on the
remarkable individuals andprojects in Rotary District 5330
that bring hope and change toour local and global communities
.
I am Judy Zelfikar, yourco-host and the current District
Governor of Rotary District5330.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And I'm Niren McLean, the Rotary District
Governor-Elect, and I'm NirenMcLean, the Rotary District
Governor-Elect.
Together, we're diving deepinto the heart of the community
service, showcasing the impactof dedication and collaboration
in addressing some of the mostpressing challenges our
communities face.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Each episode, we'll tell stories of incredible
people making a difference,innovating solutions and
inspiring others to take action.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
We'll also be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at
the projects that aretransforming their lives, and
we'll discuss how you, too, canget involved, contribute and be
part of the positive change.
Whether you're a seasonedRotarian or just looking to give
back, this podcast is for you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So join us as we explore the journeys, challenges
and successes of people likeyou who have stepped up to make
a difference.
Let's celebrate the spirit ofcommunity and the power of hope
together.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Don't forget to subscribe to the Community
Heroes of Hope on your favoritepodcast platform.
Stay with us on this journey ofinspiration and let's spread
the message of hope further thanever.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Thank you for tuning in.
Let's get started, Niren.
I'm going to have you introducethis segment as our newer
co-host here to Community Heroesof Hope.
What do we have going on today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
We have an excellent, excellent opportunity to learn
how one of our Rotary Clubs upin the high desert is really
impacting the Morongo Basin andthe lives of the community there
.
So we have some of our membersof our Rotary Club, as well as
members of the ambulance service, who have been benefited by the
(02:01):
Rotary Club.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Very well done.
Very well done, all right.
So then we're going to go aheadand turn it over to Mary.
Mary, why don't you introduceyourself and then hand it off to
the next person so they canalso introduce themselves?
Ok, I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Mary Town, assistant governor for the Yucca Valley
Sunset, which is in turnresponsible for this donation to
a great community project.
And, donna, I'll turn it overto you.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Thank you, mary.
I'm Donna Davies and I am amember of the Yucca Valley
Sunset Rotary Club and two yearsago at our big annual dessert
soiree event, at our big annualdessert soiree event, we
selected Morongo Basin Ambulanceto be the recipient of funds to
(02:51):
purchase a portable ventilatorto use in their newly started
critical care transport programthat Craig Bell, who we will
introduce next, heads up.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Craig.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Craig.
Hi, yes, I'm, my name is CraigBell.
I'm the operations chief ofMorongo Basin Ambulance here in
Joshua Tree.
We did receive funding to helpus purchase a new ventilator to
go towards our our critical careprogram here, and this has been
a massive benefit for ourcommunity here.
(03:28):
This, this program, the onethat we've developed for many
years.
With how isolated our region is,it is very difficult to get
nurse staffing up here and to beable to staff those nurses in
this kind of rural area for CCTtransport Because it's so
challenging.
(03:49):
It has resulted in patientsbeing held up and delayed in
getting down to where they needto go, or unnecessarily upgraded
by going and getting flown,which can be a very expensive
transport right, especially ifit's unnecessary for those
(04:10):
patients.
So the goal of this program wasto allow for a feasible ground
transport option, with nointerruption in the level of
care that they are receiving, tobe able to get them from point
A to point B safely.
So far the program has beenworking great.
The program that we utilize,because we've had such
(04:32):
challenges with nurse staffingis we did.
One of this is the secondprogram within the state of
California that's a criticalcare paramedic program, and so
what this allows is it allows anadditional, increased level of
scope for these paramedics to beable to do critical care
transports in a certain realm ofcapabilities, right?
(04:53):
Critical care transports in acertain realm of capabilities
right.
So these paramedics are ablenow to do ventilated patients
and take them from point A topoint B as well as some
vasoactive medications that willallow them to control the blood
pressure, keep those patientssedated when needed, to be able
to keep that ventilation goingand ideally not have any kind of
(05:14):
interruption in the level ofcare that they're receiving at
the sending facility and be ableto continue that care during
transport and then allow them toreceive further care at their
destination hospital for ahigher level of care wherever
they need to go and theseservices are super important.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I don't know and, craig, you can probably educate
us all on I know I was at an EMTin the state of Missouri many,
many years ago and we wereallowed to intubate.
But here in the state ofCalifornia, is it the paramedics
that are allowed to intubate oris this ventilator?
Does that help in that process?
Maybe you can kind of expand onthat a little bit.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Absolutely.
That's a great question.
A lot of people don't reallyknow the finer details of that
right.
So, with regards to intubation,a standard paramedic, even in
this area, is absolutely able todo that in this area.
So being able to establish anadvanced airway when necessary
(06:13):
is you know?
It can mean the differencebetween life and death, right,
and so we can absolutely do that.
All the paramedics within ourregion can do that.
So rest assured that thoseparamedics, if they need to
establish that airway, theyabsolutely will.
That said, this programspecifically is geared more
towards the.
This program specifically isgeared more towards the
(06:34):
inter-facility transport side ofmaking sure that we're getting
the patients from the hospitalthat they're at down to a
hospital that is going tocontinue and provide further,
higher level of care that theycan't have access to at the
facility that they're currentlyat.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Oh, I see, so this isn't for emergency care.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
This is for inter-facility transport,
correct, correct.
And so the challenge that wewere having was a lot of these
patients were either gettingflown, which decreases the
quality of life in thesepatients after if they have a
big bill afterwards, right,especially if it wasn't
necessary in the first place or,in some occasions, if there was
bad weather, then nobody wasflying, and so these patients
would get isolated up where theycan't get that next level of
(07:21):
care that they need, right.
And then, in addition to thattoo, it allows for a quick,
reliable option so that we havethese, these critical care
paramedics, on 24 seven, sothey're all able to.
Hey, we can get this patientdown there, no matter what the
weather is, no matter what'sgoing on, what time of day or
whatever right.
(07:41):
Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Craig, let me ask you a question the paramedics do
they currently have theeducation, operational skills
now, and they were just waitingon something like this
ventilator to be able to utilize?
Or, now that you have theventilator, do they have to get
additional training?
Speaker 5 (08:04):
so that's a great question.
So we did.
When we acquired the, theventilator two years ago.
You got that acquisitionbecause it is an advanced level
scope.
We did absolutely have to dosome additional training for it
because that's not a standardscope for paramedics within our
region.
So we absolutely did have toprogram that provided a level of
(08:32):
education that was meeting theCalifornia state requirements
for the critical care aspectsfor the paramedic Right.
And so this, this, this program,in addition to completing that
didactic that, that thattraining, they had to go and do
clinical training as well, andwe partner with Desert Regional
(08:54):
Medical Center for their to beable to utilize their, their
ICUs.
And so we ended up sending ourcritical care paramedics down to
down to their facility to beable to receive some additional
training in the critical caresetting and ICU settings that
they have down there.
So that allowed them to getthat firsthand experience with,
you know, with the help andsupport of those critical care
(09:16):
nurses there, to be able to hey,we feel comfortable going into
doing this on our own.
So it was a very extensivetraining program that we ended
up having them do and, with thatsaid, they each had to get a
specialty care certification,international critical care
paramedic certification on topof that to make sure that they
(09:38):
were fully good on everythingthat they need to have done.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
That's awesome.
How many patients do you thinkthat this is impacting on an
annual basis?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
So, after launching the program, the extensive
training, it took over a year toget through all the training
that we needed to get done.
And then it took an additionalyear or so nearly a year, I
(10:11):
should say in order to theclinical portion.
We had them do shadowedtransports with a nurse on board
, with a critical care nurse onboard the transport, just
watching and observing making'mproficient in doing A, b and C.
Everything is monitored and,you know, qa QI'd to make sure
(10:40):
that we're assuring that thecare is being delivered
appropriately.
And so now that these medicshave been cleared by the, you
know, shadowing RNs, they are ontheir own.
And they've been on their ownnow since, let's see here, since
mid-September or so, and justsince then they've already, on
(11:02):
their own, transported over 68transports, critical care
transports that would haveotherwise not had any option
other than either getting flownor being stuck there, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That's a huge impact and to imagine, Donna, that it
was created all from havingdesserts.
Tell us a little bit about thisdessert soiree.
I'm really excited about this.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Every year the Yucca Valley Sunset Rotary does this
dessert story and we select anonprofit in our community that
has a specific need that we canhelp out, and that particular
year was Gorongo Basin Ambulance.
It is a nonprofit ambulanceservice that has operated in the
(11:54):
high desert for almost 80 years.
So the dessert soiree we havelots of desserts and appetizers
and we also have a live andsilent auction.
We have a $1,000 deal or nodeal game where people who are
(12:17):
their lucky number is drawn andthey get a chance to open or
pass on different briefcasescontaining and I saw those
briefcases that's actually donejust like Deal or no Deal.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It was kind of fun, the game excuse me, just like
the Howie Mandel game on tvseveral years ago yeah, that's
awesome, and at first I thoughtthat, niren, it was the desert
soiree and Mary informed me no,it is the dessert soiree.
And who's making these desserts, mary?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
well, we've had different organizations make the
desserts from year to year, butthe last couple years Donna and
Becky members of our cluborganizations make the desserts
from year to year, but the lastcouple of years Donna and Becky
members of our club, have donethe desserts for the Desserts
Foray, which they are fantasticat.
Also, the Ambulance Associationdidn't say how many miles that
(13:15):
they travel to do thesetransports.
Craig, would you mind tellingthem?
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Can you repeat the comment there?
I apologize.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
How many miles do you travel the area that you cover?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Our square mile area?
Absolutely, it's a very, verylarge service area.
We cover 2,700 square miles andwe do that with four ambulances
, and that doesn't include doingthe inter-facility transfers
too.
So we're a nonprofit.
Our region is we have a highpercentage of low-income
(13:56):
transports and patients withinour community, unfortunately,
but that does affect what kindof revenues that we're able to
generate with that.
We don't receive any kind oftax dollars.
We're not a public entity, weare a nonprofit, so that's it.
Any and all of our revenues comefrom insurance reimbursement
(14:16):
and, unfortunately, the lowincome that we have within our
area, because it's so rural andout of the main area of the
inner cities, it does affect howmuch reimbursement we receive,
and so we're limited on how manyunits that we are able to staff
up.
I would love to see additionalstaffing, but unfortunately the
(14:37):
budget just doesn't allow forthat additional staffing, you
know.
So, as much as I would wish tobe able to, hey, we can have
five units or six units.
You know it's very challengingwith how the budget works out.
So yeah, and so with how tightour budget is being able to be
(14:57):
provided this ventilator was amassive help on getting this off
the ground, because I'm notsure that we would have been
able to get this off the groundwithout that support from our
community and our Rotary Clubhere.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So are you the exclusive ambulance service for
the Morongo Basin.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Not the entirety of the basin, yucca Valley, inner
City, is covered by San MarinoCounty Fire Department.
They have their own ambulanceWithin that district.
But, that said, all thesurrounding Areas, wonder Valley
, joshua Tree, 29 Palms, landers, johnson Valley, wonder Valley,
and a a large chunk of the parkand outlying areas, as far as
(15:43):
you know, when we get a littlecloser to Arizona, that way,
that's all us, so it's you know.
Even we go all the way out toAmboy, even, or Cadiz with you
know, and sometimes that onecall right, right, we're
attaching one crew to that onecall can take hours, you know.
So, yeah, it can be a long time, especially if we're going to
(16:04):
the hearts park.
Sometimes we they end upgetting, uh, you know, a hiking
or something along those linesand, um, a lot of our, our staff
are are very up to hey, that'syou know.
That's why I wanted to work outhere and, you know, be able to
to get different kinds of calls,right, because we don't quite
get that.
Normally when we're in theinner city we don't get a hiking
(16:24):
call, you know, that'ssomething different, you know so
a lot of guys end up like doingthat.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And this is what I love.
I love our Rotary clubs in ourdistrict and really around the
world, because these are notnecessarily very large clubs, so
small but mighty.
And tell us a little bit aboutthe numbers, donna or Mary,
whichever one would like toanswer this question.
This isn't the first donation Ithink you've given.
If I remember correctly,there's an ambulance that was
(16:53):
also provided to this group.
So tell us about what type ofor what level of donation is
this in dollars that yourwonderful club has been able to
do through your efforts, eitherat the Orchid Festival and or at
the Dessert Soiree?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Mary, are you taking it or do you want me to try?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You can go ahead and try, donna, okay.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
For the Dessert Soiree.
This is the 21st year thatwe've done the dessert story and
so typically uh, we will netout of our proceeds for our uh
recipient right around 25 to 30000, which is a good chunk of
change from our small community.
(17:35):
We have tremendous communitysupport.
And then for our orchidfestival that orchid festival at
Googler Orchids and ChrisDebbie and Kelsey Googler are
longtime members of our RotaryClub.
They donate all the proceeds,less sales tax of course, from
(17:59):
their orchid sales for theentire weekend, and that's the
first weekend in October up inLanders, and so they invite
probably about 20 nonprofits toparticipate in the orchid
festival and we all have theopportunity to uh as a
non-profit.
Uh do raffles, give outinformation to the community uh
(18:24):
and sell beer, orchid beer yeah,good rock and roll too.
One of our members is awonderful beer brewer at Joshua
Tree Brewery and so he makesthese wonderful.
He makes two or three orchidbeers made from actual orchid
(18:49):
flowers and one of them is avery popular share baby.
Our orchid beers sell out everyyear, so the money from all of
this weekend the orchid festivalweekend is divided up among the
non-profits, and visitors tothe event get rotary bucks and
(19:11):
when they make certain purchasesthey get back certain rotary
bucks and they can choose thenon-profit that they want to
reward.
So it's a great fun weekend andwe make quite a bit of money.
That's the biggest fundraiserof the year.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That's awesome.
So, in addition to theventilator that you've given to
the Morongo Basin Ambulancenonprofit, what else have you
have given to them over theyears?
Mary, I think you're going tohave to answer this one.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, I'll take that.
We've helped in donatingambulances.
Usually what it is is theirambulance can only handle so
many years of service out herein the community.
So they'll donate the ambulanceas long as we can pay the taxes
(20:09):
, and usually what we do withthat ambulance is send it down
to Mexico where they really needhelp.
But our fellow Rotarians haveall volunteered money and any
help that we can give to ournonprofit ambulance association
(20:31):
so they also have a membershipdrive that the Ambulance
Association has for anyone up inthe high desert so that they
can belong to this AmbulanceAssociation and be transported
with less of a cost to them.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
The other thing that we've done and it's not for the
Ambulance Association we've alsodonated a van to an
organization, reach Out MorongoBasin, which transports elderly,
severely handicapped ordisadvantaged personnel to
(21:15):
doctor's appointments, groceries, meals, shopping, and between
the two of these organizationswe've donated over $50,000 in
the last two years.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That's extraordinary.
Well, you guys are definitelydoing some amazing work out
there.
Any final thoughts before wewrap up the podcast today.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Look forward to seeing everybody.
December or, pardon me, April8th.
Right, Donna, for the dessertsorbet.
April 5th, oh 5th.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
April 5th, and where would somebody go to take a look
at that?
What is the website they'd goto?
Speaker 4 (21:58):
SunsetRotaryorg.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
SunsetRotaryorg.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And we'll be putting up information about the dessert
store in Murray just as soon asI get back from my trip.
So about 10 days, so about 10days.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Okay, well, that should go up prior to this
podcast being published.
So we'll make sure and put youtowards the end of the line so
that we can get that up thereand everybody can participate.
Craig, any final words?
Wonderful.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
No, no, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Well, we really admire the work that you're
doing, craig, and I know thatyou're playing with limited
dollars there, dealing withMedi-Cal funding, et cetera, so
thank you for the work you docovering that area.
That's extraordinary.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
Absolutely Always happy to help.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And great job, rotarians, for once again doing
service above self to reallyhelp our communities and working
in collaboration with thoseother nonprofits in our
communities to do good in ourworld.
So thanks again, thanks for allof you coming out today and we
look forward to spreading theword and having more people come
and support this effort.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Thank you, Judy.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Thank you, niren.
Thank you.
So that wraps up this episodeof Heroes of Hope.
We are so happy that we have anaudience out there listening.
We want you to subscribe, shareand tell your friends about the
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the
word out about the impact we'rehaving in this world.
Hello and welcome to the Community.
Heroes of Hope, a podcast wherewe shine a light on the
remarkable individuals andprojects in Rotary District 5330
that bring hope and change toour local and global communities
.
I am Judy Zelfikar, yourco-host and the current District
Governor of Rotary District5330.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And I'm Niren McLean, the Rotary District
Governor-Elect, and I'm NirenMcLean, the Rotary District
Governor-Elect.
Together, we're diving deepinto the heart of the community
service, showcasing the impactof dedication and collaboration
in addressing some of the mostpressing challenges our
communities face.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Each episode, we'll tell stories of incredible
people making a difference,innovating solutions and
inspiring others to take action.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
We'll also be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at
the projects that aretransforming their lives, and
we'll discuss how you, too, canget involved, contribute and be
part of the positive change.
Whether you're a seasonedRotarian or just looking to give
back, this podcast is for you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
So join us as we explore the journeys, challenges
and successes of people likeyou who have stepped up to make
a difference.
Let's celebrate the spirit ofcommunity and the power of hope
together.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Don't forget to subscribe to the Community
Heroes of Hope on your favoritepodcast platform.
Stay with us on this journey ofinspiration and let's spread
the message of hope further thanever.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Thank you for tuning in.
Let's get started, Niren.
I'm going to have you introducethis segment as our newer
co-host here to Community Heroesof Hope.
What do we have going on today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
We have an excellent, excellent opportunity to learn
how one of our Rotary Clubs upin the high desert is really
impacting the Morongo Basin andthe lives of the community there
.
So we have some of our membersof our Rotary Club, as well as
members of the ambulance service, who have been benefited by the
(02:01):
Rotary Club.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Very well done.
Very well done, all right.
So then we're going to go aheadand turn it over to Mary.
Mary, why don't you introduceyourself and then hand it off to
the next person so they canalso introduce themselves?
Ok, I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Mary Town, assistant governor for the Yucca Valley
Sunset, which is in turnresponsible for this donation to
a great community project.
And, donna, I'll turn it overto you.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
Thank you, mary.
I'm Donna Davies and I am amember of the Yucca Valley
Sunset Rotary Club and two yearsago at our big annual dessert
soiree event, at our big annualdessert soiree event, we
selected Morongo Basin Ambulanceto be the recipient of funds to
(02:51):
purchase a portable ventilatorto use in their newly started
critical care transport programthat Craig Bell, who we will
introduce next, heads up.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Craig.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Craig.
Hi, yes, I'm, my name is CraigBell.
I'm the operations chief ofMorongo Basin Ambulance here in
Joshua Tree.
We did receive funding to helpus purchase a new ventilator to
go towards our our critical careprogram here, and this has been
a massive benefit for ourcommunity here.
(03:28):
This, this program, the onethat we've developed for many
years.
With how isolated our region is,it is very difficult to get
nurse staffing up here and to beable to staff those nurses in
this kind of rural area for CCTtransport Because it's so
challenging.
(03:49):
It has resulted in patientsbeing held up and delayed in
getting down to where they needto go, or unnecessarily upgraded
by going and getting flown,which can be a very expensive
transport right, especially ifit's unnecessary for those
(04:10):
patients.
So the goal of this program wasto allow for a feasible ground
transport option, with nointerruption in the level of
care that they are receiving, tobe able to get them from point
A to point B safely.
So far the program has beenworking great.
The program that we utilize,because we've had such
(04:32):
challenges with nurse staffingis we did.
One of this is the secondprogram within the state of
California that's a criticalcare paramedic program, and so
what this allows is it allows anadditional, increased level of
scope for these paramedics to beable to do critical care
transports in a certain realm ofcapabilities, right?
(04:53):
Critical care transports in acertain realm of capabilities
right.
So these paramedics are ablenow to do ventilated patients
and take them from point A topoint B as well as some
vasoactive medications that willallow them to control the blood
pressure, keep those patientssedated when needed, to be able
to keep that ventilation goingand ideally not have any kind of
(05:14):
interruption in the level ofcare that they're receiving at
the sending facility and be ableto continue that care during
transport and then allow them toreceive further care at their
destination hospital for ahigher level of care wherever
they need to go and theseservices are super important.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I don't know and, craig, you can probably educate
us all on I know I was at an EMTin the state of Missouri many,
many years ago and we wereallowed to intubate.
But here in the state ofCalifornia, is it the paramedics
that are allowed to intubate oris this ventilator?
Does that help in that process?
Maybe you can kind of expand onthat a little bit.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Absolutely.
That's a great question.
A lot of people don't reallyknow the finer details of that
right.
So, with regards to intubation,a standard paramedic, even in
this area, is absolutely able todo that in this area.
So being able to establish anadvanced airway when necessary
(06:13):
is you know?
It can mean the differencebetween life and death, right,
and so we can absolutely do that.
All the paramedics within ourregion can do that.
So rest assured that thoseparamedics, if they need to
establish that airway, theyabsolutely will.
That said, this programspecifically is geared more
towards the.
This program specifically isgeared more towards the
(06:34):
inter-facility transport side ofmaking sure that we're getting
the patients from the hospitalthat they're at down to a
hospital that is going tocontinue and provide further,
higher level of care that theycan't have access to at the
facility that they're currentlyat.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Oh, I see, so this isn't for emergency care.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
This is for inter-facility transport,
correct, correct.
And so the challenge that wewere having was a lot of these
patients were either gettingflown, which decreases the
quality of life in thesepatients after if they have a
big bill afterwards, right,especially if it wasn't
necessary in the first place or,in some occasions, if there was
bad weather, then nobody wasflying, and so these patients
would get isolated up where theycan't get that next level of
(07:21):
care that they need, right.
And then, in addition to thattoo, it allows for a quick,
reliable option so that we havethese, these critical care
paramedics, on 24 seven, sothey're all able to.
Hey, we can get this patientdown there, no matter what the
weather is, no matter what'sgoing on, what time of day or
whatever right.
(07:41):
Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Craig, let me ask you a question the paramedics do
they currently have theeducation, operational skills
now, and they were just waitingon something like this
ventilator to be able to utilize?
Or, now that you have theventilator, do they have to get
additional training?
Speaker 5 (08:04):
so that's a great question.
So we did.
When we acquired the, theventilator two years ago.
You got that acquisitionbecause it is an advanced level
scope.
We did absolutely have to dosome additional training for it
because that's not a standardscope for paramedics within our
region.
So we absolutely did have toprogram that provided a level of
(08:32):
education that was meeting theCalifornia state requirements
for the critical care aspectsfor the paramedic Right.
And so this, this, this program,in addition to completing that
didactic that, that thattraining, they had to go and do
clinical training as well, andwe partner with Desert Regional
(08:54):
Medical Center for their to beable to utilize their, their
ICUs.
And so we ended up sending ourcritical care paramedics down to
down to their facility to beable to receive some additional
training in the critical caresetting and ICU settings that
they have down there.
So that allowed them to getthat firsthand experience with,
you know, with the help andsupport of those critical care
(09:16):
nurses there, to be able to hey,we feel comfortable going into
doing this on our own.
So it was a very extensivetraining program that we ended
up having them do and, with thatsaid, they each had to get a
specialty care certification,international critical care
paramedic certification on topof that to make sure that they
(09:38):
were fully good on everythingthat they need to have done.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
That's awesome.
How many patients do you thinkthat this is impacting on an
annual basis?
Speaker 5 (09:50):
So, after launching the program, the extensive
training, it took over a year toget through all the training
that we needed to get done.
And then it took an additionalyear or so nearly a year, I
(10:11):
should say in order to theclinical portion.
We had them do shadowedtransports with a nurse on board
, with a critical care nurse onboard the transport, just
watching and observing making'mproficient in doing A, b and C.
Everything is monitored and,you know, qa QI'd to make sure
(10:40):
that we're assuring that thecare is being delivered
appropriately.
And so now that these medicshave been cleared by the, you
know, shadowing RNs, they are ontheir own.
And they've been on their ownnow since, let's see here, since
mid-September or so, and justsince then they've already, on
(11:02):
their own, transported over 68transports, critical care
transports that would haveotherwise not had any option
other than either getting flownor being stuck there, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That's a huge impact and to imagine, Donna, that it
was created all from havingdesserts.
Tell us a little bit about thisdessert soiree.
I'm really excited about this.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Every year the Yucca Valley Sunset Rotary does this
dessert story and we select anonprofit in our community that
has a specific need that we canhelp out, and that particular
year was Gorongo Basin Ambulance.
It is a nonprofit ambulanceservice that has operated in the
(11:54):
high desert for almost 80 years.
So the dessert soiree we havelots of desserts and appetizers
and we also have a live andsilent auction.
We have a $1,000 deal or nodeal game where people who are
(12:17):
their lucky number is drawn andthey get a chance to open or
pass on different briefcasescontaining and I saw those
briefcases that's actually donejust like Deal or no Deal.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
It was kind of fun, the game excuse me, just like
the Howie Mandel game on tvseveral years ago yeah, that's
awesome, and at first I thoughtthat, niren, it was the desert
soiree and Mary informed me no,it is the dessert soiree.
And who's making these desserts, mary?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
well, we've had different organizations make the
desserts from year to year, butthe last couple years Donna and
Becky members of our cluborganizations make the desserts
from year to year, but the lastcouple of years Donna and Becky
members of our club, have donethe desserts for the Desserts
Foray, which they are fantasticat.
Also, the Ambulance Associationdidn't say how many miles that
(13:15):
they travel to do thesetransports.
Craig, would you mind tellingthem?
Speaker 5 (13:24):
Can you repeat the comment there?
I apologize.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
How many miles do you travel the area that you cover?
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Our square mile area?
Absolutely, it's a very, verylarge service area.
We cover 2,700 square miles andwe do that with four ambulances
, and that doesn't include doingthe inter-facility transfers
too.
So we're a nonprofit.
Our region is we have a highpercentage of low-income
(13:56):
transports and patients withinour community, unfortunately,
but that does affect what kindof revenues that we're able to
generate with that.
We don't receive any kind oftax dollars.
We're not a public entity, weare a nonprofit, so that's it.
Any and all of our revenues comefrom insurance reimbursement
(14:16):
and, unfortunately, the lowincome that we have within our
area, because it's so rural andout of the main area of the
inner cities, it does affect howmuch reimbursement we receive,
and so we're limited on how manyunits that we are able to staff
up.
I would love to see additionalstaffing, but unfortunately the
(14:37):
budget just doesn't allow forthat additional staffing, you
know.
So, as much as I would wish tobe able to, hey, we can have
five units or six units.
You know it's very challengingwith how the budget works out.
So yeah, and so with how tightour budget is being able to be
(14:57):
provided this ventilator was amassive help on getting this off
the ground, because I'm notsure that we would have been
able to get this off the groundwithout that support from our
community and our Rotary Clubhere.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
So are you the exclusive ambulance service for
the Morongo Basin.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
Not the entirety of the basin, yucca Valley, inner
City, is covered by San MarinoCounty Fire Department.
They have their own ambulanceWithin that district.
But, that said, all thesurrounding Areas, wonder Valley
, joshua Tree, 29 Palms, landers, johnson Valley, wonder Valley,
and a a large chunk of the parkand outlying areas, as far as
(15:43):
you know, when we get a littlecloser to Arizona, that way,
that's all us, so it's you know.
Even we go all the way out toAmboy, even, or Cadiz with you
know, and sometimes that onecall right, right, we're
attaching one crew to that onecall can take hours, you know.
So, yeah, it can be a long time, especially if we're going to
(16:04):
the hearts park.
Sometimes we they end upgetting, uh, you know, a hiking
or something along those linesand, um, a lot of our, our staff
are are very up to hey, that'syou know.
That's why I wanted to work outhere and, you know, be able to
to get different kinds of calls,right, because we don't quite
get that.
Normally when we're in theinner city we don't get a hiking
(16:24):
call, you know, that'ssomething different, you know so
a lot of guys end up like doingthat.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And this is what I love.
I love our Rotary clubs in ourdistrict and really around the
world, because these are notnecessarily very large clubs, so
small but mighty.
And tell us a little bit aboutthe numbers, donna or Mary,
whichever one would like toanswer this question.
This isn't the first donation Ithink you've given.
If I remember correctly,there's an ambulance that was
(16:53):
also provided to this group.
So tell us about what type ofor what level of donation is
this in dollars that yourwonderful club has been able to
do through your efforts, eitherat the Orchid Festival and or at
the Dessert Soiree?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Mary, are you taking it or do you want me to try?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
You can go ahead and try, donna, okay.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
For the Dessert Soiree.
This is the 21st year thatwe've done the dessert story and
so typically uh, we will netout of our proceeds for our uh
recipient right around 25 to 30000, which is a good chunk of
change from our small community.
(17:35):
We have tremendous communitysupport.
And then for our orchidfestival that orchid festival at
Googler Orchids and ChrisDebbie and Kelsey Googler are
longtime members of our RotaryClub.
They donate all the proceeds,less sales tax of course, from
(17:59):
their orchid sales for theentire weekend, and that's the
first weekend in October up inLanders, and so they invite
probably about 20 nonprofits toparticipate in the orchid
festival and we all have theopportunity to uh as a
non-profit.
Uh do raffles, give outinformation to the community uh
(18:24):
and sell beer, orchid beer yeah,good rock and roll too.
One of our members is awonderful beer brewer at Joshua
Tree Brewery and so he makesthese wonderful.
He makes two or three orchidbeers made from actual orchid
(18:49):
flowers and one of them is avery popular share baby.
Our orchid beers sell out everyyear, so the money from all of
this weekend the orchid festivalweekend is divided up among the
non-profits, and visitors tothe event get rotary bucks and
(19:11):
when they make certain purchasesthey get back certain rotary
bucks and they can choose thenon-profit that they want to
reward.
So it's a great fun weekend andwe make quite a bit of money.
That's the biggest fundraiserof the year.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That's awesome.
So, in addition to theventilator that you've given to
the Morongo Basin Ambulancenonprofit, what else have you
have given to them over theyears?
Mary, I think you're going tohave to answer this one.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, I'll take that.
We've helped in donatingambulances.
Usually what it is is theirambulance can only handle so
many years of service out herein the community.
So they'll donate the ambulanceas long as we can pay the taxes
(20:09):
, and usually what we do withthat ambulance is send it down
to Mexico where they really needhelp.
But our fellow Rotarians haveall volunteered money and any
help that we can give to ournonprofit ambulance association
(20:31):
so they also have a membershipdrive that the Ambulance
Association has for anyone up inthe high desert so that they
can belong to this AmbulanceAssociation and be transported
with less of a cost to them.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
The other thing that we've done and it's not for the
Ambulance Association we've alsodonated a van to an
organization, reach Out MorongoBasin, which transports elderly,
severely handicapped ordisadvantaged personnel to
(21:15):
doctor's appointments, groceries, meals, shopping, and between
the two of these organizationswe've donated over $50,000 in
the last two years.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
That's extraordinary.
Well, you guys are definitelydoing some amazing work out
there.
Any final thoughts before wewrap up the podcast today.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Look forward to seeing everybody.
December or, pardon me, April8th.
Right, Donna, for the dessertsorbet.
April 5th, oh 5th.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
April 5th, and where would somebody go to take a look
at that?
What is the website they'd goto?
Speaker 4 (21:58):
SunsetRotaryorg.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
SunsetRotaryorg.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And we'll be putting up information about the dessert
store in Murray just as soon asI get back from my trip.
So about 10 days, so about 10days.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Okay, well, that should go up prior to this
podcast being published.
So we'll make sure and put youtowards the end of the line so
that we can get that up thereand everybody can participate.
Craig, any final words?
Wonderful.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
No, no, thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Well, we really admire the work that you're
doing, craig, and I know thatyou're playing with limited
dollars there, dealing withMedi-Cal funding, et cetera, so
thank you for the work you docovering that area.
That's extraordinary.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
Absolutely Always happy to help.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And great job, rotarians, for once again doing
service above self to reallyhelp our communities and working
in collaboration with thoseother nonprofits in our
communities to do good in ourworld.
So thanks again, thanks for allof you coming out today and we
look forward to spreading theword and having more people come
and support this effort.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Thank you, Judy.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Thank you, niren.
Thank you.
So that wraps up this episodeof Heroes of Hope.
We are so happy that we have anaudience out there listening.
We want you to subscribe, shareand tell your friends about the
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the
word out about the impact we'rehaving in this world.
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