From our January 25, 2001, edition.

Local ambulance service receives award 

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Associated Ambulance Authority was honored January 13, 2001, during the annual Panhandle Emergency Medical Services System (PEMSS) banquet in Amarillo.

The Authority received the Public / Private Provider of the Year Award for doubling its staff size and increasing the level of training its members receive.

“We’re a much better trained team now than we were a year ago,” said hospital administrator Alan Graham. “Not just the quantity but the quality of the people has improved.”

Graham said the Authority tries to move people quickly from the basic EMT level to the intermediate level and then encourages the intermediates to receive paramedic level training.

During 2000, the Authority had 17 people on its staff in addition to Graham in his role as the administrator. Seven were listed at the paramedic level, four were intermediates, and six were basic EMTs. The Authority operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has three ambulances available to serve the people in all of Donley County.

Paramedic Belinda Montana was very happy to see her organization receive the award.

“It was great,” she said. “We worked very hard for it, and everyone was very excited.”

In addition to training personnel and serving the people of the county, the Authority has been involved in the preparing the Clarendon ISD Crisis Management Plan from the ground up, Montana said.

According to PEMMS, the CISD plan, which was prepared with the cooperation of several public agencies, rivals all school emergency plans in the region.

“I’m really proud of these people,” Graham said. “They do a great job under very stressful conditions.”

Montana says the Authority is not standing still, noting that a new Basic-EMT class will be held next month.

PEMSS was founded in the late 1970s as a part of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Today, it is operated by the Northwest Texas Healthcare System.

Local people serving on the Associated Ambulance Authority’s staff during 2000 included EMT-Paramedics Aaron Ashcraft, Ladonna Bradley, Michelle Collins, Belinda Montana, Joe Poole, Lucy Poole, Debra Hill; EMT-Intermediates Debra Hill, Debbie Howard, Smiley Johnson, Steve Sell; and EMT-Basics Shane Ashcraft, Leticia Boling, Kyle Hill, Tammi Lewis, Dan Sawyer, and Dennis Sell. Greg Collins served as Director of Operations, and Alan Graham was Administrator.

The Ambulance Authority has been under the direction of the Donley County Hospital District since 1999.