St. Vincent Ambulance Fund

An ambulance.  An essential resource that we all hope we never have to use.

Until it's an emergency.

Join us to support the purchase of a new ambulance for our community. 

An ambulance is more than a vehicle to transport the sick and wounded. It is a complex mobile medical facility that allows trained professionals to administer life-saving care in an emergency.

The current ambulance fleet in Lake County is nearing the end of its useful life, and St. Vincent Health already has raised half of the funds necessary to purchase our new ambulance. SVH has received grants from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment and the Freeport McMoRan Foundation to support the purchase. 

The ambulance is now on order and being constructed to the specifications necessary for our high altitude environment. 

An ambulance is expensive.  We still need to raise $175,000 to complete the purchase and have the ambulance delivered to us in 2024.

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Watch this short video
about the EMS program
and our need for a new ambulance

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Empower our ambulance teams with the equipment necessary to save lives. 

Serving Lake County with dedication and readiness, St. Vincent Ambulance Service delivers pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency care with an expert staff of paramedics and emergency medical technicians. The team is prepared to respond immediately to 911 calls and emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in the 400-square-mile Lake County service area.

The ambulance team works in concert with Leadville Lake County Fire Rescue, Leadville Police Department, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and Lake County Search and Rescue to serve 8,000 year-round residents and thousands more annual visitors.

Our providers are experienced emergency responders with skills in rural and wilderness medicine. Most are also well acquainted with the challenges of working first-hand in high-altitude alpine environments.

Also, the St. Vincent Health organization has one of the only ambulance services in the nation whose work extends into the hospital, where they work alongside doctors and nurses in the emergency room.

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Your generosity is vital to the health and safety of our community. Your donation will save lives. And while we hope you will never have to use our ambulance, consider that the life it saves could be your own. 

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The current inventory of ambulances owned by St. Vincent Health represents an aging fleet of 4 ambulances. The current “first-out” ambulance is a 2018 vehicle with 89,000 miles on it. And the “second-out” ambulance is a 2016 with 159,000 miles on it. The other 2 ambulances are used for local transfers and special events.

Typically an ambulance is considered for light duty (such as special events) at 100,000 miles on the odometer. Three vehicles are already past their prime, and our newer vehicle is nearing the end of its useful life.

Lake County must have a new state-of-the-art ambulance. Your support is essential to maintain effective, life-saving 911 service in our community. 

The St. Vincent Health ambulance department runs 2 crews 24/7 as primary and secondary crews of 2 first responders each. The service covers 400 square miles - all of Lake County, Colorado answering 100% of medical 911 calls. St. Vincent Ambulance Services delivers pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency care with an expert staff of paramedics and emergency medical technicians. When they are not on a call they assist emergency room providers in patient care.