Well, on my last report I said we had a heck of a summer, but these past three months have been even more astounding. We completed 89 calls in the months of November, December and January! AND we’re out of money once more.

Let’s start with scorpion stings. Yes, we are still getting many calls. We treated 42 people for scorpion stings ranging in age from 3 years to 91 years. When we receive a call, yes, even if it is the middle of the night, we either ask the patient if they can get to the ambulance base. If not, we go get them. There they are connected to an IV, and antivenom is introduced. The team is trained to carefully observe the patient to determine if more antivenom is needed, or if the patient’s reaction is so severe that we have to take them to the hospital in Cihuatlan. Very few patients need to be transported to the hospital. We continue to monitor them for 2-2.5 hours to make sure the patient is responding well to the antivenom. We had 42 calls for scorpion stings—that’s right, 42 calls—in 3 months’ time!

The next category of calls is for motorcycle accidents—11 calls— or car accidents—2 calls. The calls range from abrasions, broken limbs, to gaping wounds, especially to the head. I’m not a fan of helmets, but it sure seems like a good idea to wear one, especially if you are traveling on the highway.

In smaller categories, we received 5 calls for people who lost consciousness, 5 calls from people who were injured in a fall, 4 calls for fractures—collar bones, arms legs, feet. We even had a call from a person who fell walking to Las Joyas and wound up with multiple fractures. The team hiked back to her, stabilized her breaks, and hiked back out with the patient on a collapsible stretcher.

We transported patients in need of emergency surgery 3 times, and 2 patients had food poisoning, 2 with drug overdoses, and 5 with heart issues. We had 2 calls for pregnancy issues, 1 dog bite, 2 cases of hepatitus, 1 patient who passed out from alcohol consumption while riding a motorcycle, and, finally, 2 beehive removals.

I am so proud of this team. They get paid $800p for each call, and that pay includes washing the ambulance inside and out, restocking it, writing detailed reports on each call, and attending any training opportunities. Since we have been so short of money, most of the team has agreed to work for free, but we can’t expect that to continue. In a typical year, we need approximately $120,000 pesos to operate for the year. That includes paying for ambulance repairs, medical supplies, training fees, uniforms, and, sometimes, gas. The government in La Huerta supplies us with 20 liters of gasoline a week, and pays for insurance, but that’s it. This year, the number of calls has more than tripled, and we can’t keep this valuable service operating without more donations. We don’t charge for any of our services, not even antivenom. We count on donations to keep us afloat.

That said, we have a fundraiser for the ambulance and Peluditos coming up soon, on February 4. There’s information about the fundraiser on the message board and La Manzanilla Life II. It’s a wonderful time to make a donation, and, as always, you can donate at Panaderia Leia, Cafe du Calcetin, or at Mayan’s La Manzanilla Homes office. Please help keep this service going!