A set of wheels from local paramedics is about to help save lives in Central America.
The Region of Waterloo donated an ambulance to a community in Guatemala, where it can take hours to respond to an emergency.
Originally announced in November, the ambulance arrived on Dec. 12, a month earlier than expected.
"We're in the process of donating to a charity called Alianza, and they are going to ship it to Guatemala," said Region of Waterloo Paramedics Deputy Chief Robert Crossan at the time.
First responders in the town of Comitancillo typically pull double duty, working as firefighters and paramedics.
They had been using a pickup truck to transport patients.
"Right now, other than a 1980 Toyota pickup truck with kind of a ‘MacGyver’ canopy on the back, they don't really have any mode of transportation for patients," said Rebekah Shoop of Alianza Canada at the time.
The community of 60,000 people is known as one of the poorest in the country.
Access to emergency medical services is limited, and the nearest emergency room is 90 minutes away.
"To save money, the ministry of health closed them down. So people literally didn't know if the emergency room would be open when they got there, even if they could get a ride to the emergency room,” said Shoop.
This is the sixth retired ambulance the region has donated. Alianza Canada will be driving it over 5,000 kilometers down to Guatemala.
"The lights work on it, the siren works on it, and if it can get people and if it can get people to hospital where it’s needed, then that's fantastic," said Crossan.
The ambulance was originally scheduled to arrive in January.
