Acquiring an ambulance service in Puerto Morelos is a work in progress. In the early evening of Tuesday February 12th we met with Catarina Brown who is the Chairperson of the local Charity “El Mundo Para Puerto Morelos” and Antonio Auila Morenoa who is a private ambulance operator from Cancun. The purpose of our meeting was to begin the initial steps in setting up an ambulance service in Puerto Morelos.
Mr. Auila Morenoa is one of five private ambulance operators in the city of Cancun; his ambulances operate under the name of “Critical Mobile”. He is wanting to expand his business so has taken the liberty to place an ambulance in Puerto Morelos on a temporary basis to see if the call volume warrants an ambulance to be stationed here. I understand his ambulance will be here for trial period which began in January 2008. During our meeting he told us in the days the ambulance had been in Puerto Morelos they had responded to 25 calls. He feels this is a strong indication there is a need for an ambulance to be located here but there is one major problem for his company - of the 25 calls 24 of the patients could not afford to pay for his services. In Mexico if one works for an employer s/he may have medical insurance at the hospital but no coverage for ambulance transportation to the hospital. If one is self employed or not employed s/he has no health coverage unless they pay for it privately – very few can afford it. I understand there is no health care coverage which includes ambulance transportation to a hospital or health care facility in this country.
The city of Cancun has a high call volume and because of its higher standard of living, vacationers and more residents can afford to pay for the cost of their ambulance usage. The short distance to the hospital and payment for services received, helps the operators to off set the cost of those calls to people in the city that can not afford to pay. Puerto Morelos does not offer that same option to the ambulance operator because of the greater distance to the Cancun hospitals, and the majority of people living in this area can not afford to pay for their own personal ambulance usage.
The wages are very low here – a construction worker may get paid as much as 80 Pesos per day or $8:00 US; the basic cost for an ambulance is 3,000. Pesos or $300.00 US, then there is an equipment charge – for every item of equipment used on a patient while in the care of the ambulance service there is an additional charge. For example: oxygen + blood pressure instruments + neck brace + back board + and so on equals (=) the total cost to the patient in Pesos or US Dollars.
Gerando Martinez has been the onsite paramedic here in Puerto Morelos since we came; he has been on site since Mr. Auila Morenoa placed the ambulance in the community about a month ago. By onsite I mean that he has been with the ambulance 24 hours of each of those days. The ambulance has often been parked at the Health Clinic (Centor De Salud Puerto Morelos); there are sleeping facilities inside the Health Clinic but Doctors and Nurses coming into the community get first dibs on these leaving Gerando no other choice but to sleep in his ambulance, this he has done for many of his nights here. “Welcome to my home!” he says when we stop by for a visit.
When a call is received Gerando and one of the two volunteers from the community are notified by cell phone from the dispatch centre. The volunteer knows the community so if the ambulance is not close by he goes to the scene and Gerando meets him there with the Ambulance. The volunteer which is a Doctor from the clinic or a gentleman from the Civil Protection Service and Gerando complete the call by taking the patient to a hospital in Cancun, and then they return to Puerto Morelos. The time to complete a call and return to Puerto Morelos takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Mr. Auila Moreno may be submitting a letter of interest to the Charity; I anticipate the Board of Directors will be advertising for an RFP – (Request’s for Proposal) to any ambulance operators interested in placing a designated ambulance in Puerto Morelos.
The Charity Board of Directors has a major task set before it which will involve a lot of decision making and possibly more fund raising. They have met and conquered many challenges in the past so I am confident they will be successful in making the right decisions and doing what is best for future ambulance service in Puerto Morelos.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Ambulance Photos
This is the ambuance presently stationed in Puerto Morelos for a trial period
This is the full time paramedic with the service - GerandoMartinez
From Left to Right Antonio Auila Moreno, private operator, Gerando Martinez, Paramedic, myslef - Anne Elliott and Catarina Brown, Chair person for the Charity "El Mujndo Para Puerto Morelos+002.JPG)
The local Health Centre where the Ambulance is Parked while in Puerto Morelos
Monday February 18, 2008
Day 15
Canadians have been blessed with a new Statutory Holiday – Today is Family Day! Monday February 18, 2008. We retired too early to have the luxury of this additional stat off, but for those workers back home I do hope you use it wisely and do something specific to celebrate the meaning of the day. Now I know you can not spend the day at the beach but you can do something seasonal – take a walk, ski, snow machine, skate, or make a snow man if the weather is right. ENJOY IT!
I Yahoo messaged Clinton today – he said “so Grandma has fleas!” You betcha she does! They are nasty little buggers too! I dropped some crocheted items off at the medical clinic here in Puerto Morelos today and during our conversation the Nurse noticed my blotches. She asked about them and what I was doing to alleviate the problem. I told her my actions were totally reactive – I was applying a cream purchased at the pharmacy in Playa Del Carmen called “Xyloderm” – I can not read Spanish so I have no idea what is in it. She recommended Eurax which I was able to purchase at the local pharmacy here for $5.50 US. I don’t know what is in it either!
For those that may be interested I have picked up a microscopic organism, it is in my body and now I have to break its reproductive cycle. The Eurax cream is to be applied every 8 hours; if it does not stop the outbreak within a few days I will need to have a needle. I did not ask any further questions – we will deal with this one day at a time. I was on the internet the other night checking it out – I know some of the possible outcomes so we won’t go there right now.
This morning we took at snorkeling tour on the reef in front of Puerto Morelos which has been declared a national park; it has just celebrated its 10th year. One is not allowed to go to the reef unless you are accompanied by a guide. The cost was $30.00 each and the tour was 2 hours in duration providing us with two snorkeling adventures. The first adventure is on the reef and the second is at the Cenota which is an underwater river of fresh water entering the ocean. The reef had several schools of fish, many sizes and many colours - one lady on our tour knows all of their names and those she doesn’t know she is looking up in her fish books. Well we just love the view, we don’t know the names of the coral or fish but we certainly appreciate what we see. We did take pic’s but we will not have them developed until we return home – if they turn out I will add them to this posting.
When we returned to our apartment we showered and then went for lunch at the “Le Marlin Bleu” where we had another delicious meal and lots of cerveza. That salt water makes ya drink lots eh? That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Allan is even enjoying the cerveza!
Tonight we are going to try the “La Petita Seafood Restaurant” they say it is a great place to eat. Like I have said so often in almost every Blog post - we have never been served anything we didn’t like at any of the restraints here in Puerto Morelos – so we are expecting nothing but the best!
Canadians have been blessed with a new Statutory Holiday – Today is Family Day! Monday February 18, 2008. We retired too early to have the luxury of this additional stat off, but for those workers back home I do hope you use it wisely and do something specific to celebrate the meaning of the day. Now I know you can not spend the day at the beach but you can do something seasonal – take a walk, ski, snow machine, skate, or make a snow man if the weather is right. ENJOY IT!
I Yahoo messaged Clinton today – he said “so Grandma has fleas!” You betcha she does! They are nasty little buggers too! I dropped some crocheted items off at the medical clinic here in Puerto Morelos today and during our conversation the Nurse noticed my blotches. She asked about them and what I was doing to alleviate the problem. I told her my actions were totally reactive – I was applying a cream purchased at the pharmacy in Playa Del Carmen called “Xyloderm” – I can not read Spanish so I have no idea what is in it. She recommended Eurax which I was able to purchase at the local pharmacy here for $5.50 US. I don’t know what is in it either!
For those that may be interested I have picked up a microscopic organism, it is in my body and now I have to break its reproductive cycle. The Eurax cream is to be applied every 8 hours; if it does not stop the outbreak within a few days I will need to have a needle. I did not ask any further questions – we will deal with this one day at a time. I was on the internet the other night checking it out – I know some of the possible outcomes so we won’t go there right now.
This morning we took at snorkeling tour on the reef in front of Puerto Morelos which has been declared a national park; it has just celebrated its 10th year. One is not allowed to go to the reef unless you are accompanied by a guide. The cost was $30.00 each and the tour was 2 hours in duration providing us with two snorkeling adventures. The first adventure is on the reef and the second is at the Cenota which is an underwater river of fresh water entering the ocean. The reef had several schools of fish, many sizes and many colours - one lady on our tour knows all of their names and those she doesn’t know she is looking up in her fish books. Well we just love the view, we don’t know the names of the coral or fish but we certainly appreciate what we see. We did take pic’s but we will not have them developed until we return home – if they turn out I will add them to this posting.
When we returned to our apartment we showered and then went for lunch at the “Le Marlin Bleu” where we had another delicious meal and lots of cerveza. That salt water makes ya drink lots eh? That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Allan is even enjoying the cerveza!
Tonight we are going to try the “La Petita Seafood Restaurant” they say it is a great place to eat. Like I have said so often in almost every Blog post - we have never been served anything we didn’t like at any of the restraints here in Puerto Morelos – so we are expecting nothing but the best!
Sunday February 17th - Day 14
Our flight leaves for Brownsville Texas on Wed Feb 20th,. We are so looking forward to seeing the Jumpers yet we are a little reluctant to leave Puerto Morelos. Looking on the bright side though, by leaving we will be returning again one day.
Allan has learned to make excellent fruit smoothies –I hope he continues to do so when we get home. They are soooo gooooood ya wan’a lick out the glass! Maybe it is the Kahula!
At Frank’s meet and greet this past Friday evening we met with a couple of ladies who spend a lot of their time in Puerto Morelos, they invited us to join them at the Jungle Market in the Colona today. The Colona is the section of Puerto Morelos that is on the opposite side of the highway – the jungle side – we are staying in what is considered the hotel zone. They met us at the taxi stand in PM at 10:00 am this morning and took us to a little market building where we bought some produce. One of these ladies has the same problem with sand flea bites that I do, I was telling her that we received an e-mail from Anita – (a friend of Allan’s) and the information was on the good of bananas; one of the
items mentioned was that the banana skin if rubbed on the insect bite will reduce itching. A young Mexican man overheard our conversation and interrupted us to tell us that any part of the banana works. He has spent some of his life in New York and his brother lives in Vancouver so his English was quite easy to understand. She and I bought bananas – and believe it or not “IT WORKS!” When you feel one itch you apply some mashed up banana to the itch and viola! The itch is gone. The husbands were wondering what the addition of ice cream or whipped cream would make! The medics back home are wondering about chocolate cream and bananas – well I will let them know later!! Dwayne says “TOO MUCH INFORAMTION – I DON’T WANT’A KNOW!”
We left the produce market stand and traveled to the Jungle Market – it is in the jungle a short distance outside of the Colona. Here we found food concession stands, craft tables, and entertainment. The entertainment which begins at 11:30 consisted of Ancient Mayan dancing which is preformed by today’s descendants of the Mayan people. Pictures will show you the beautiful costumes they wear. All of the decorative needle work on the dresses is hand done – I looked on the back side and it is as neatly sewn as that on the front! A talent seldom achieved by many.
The balance of our day was very leisurely with a walk on the beach and a Siesta.
Take care until next time,
Anne
Allan has learned to make excellent fruit smoothies –I hope he continues to do so when we get home. They are soooo gooooood ya wan’a lick out the glass! Maybe it is the Kahula!
At Frank’s meet and greet this past Friday evening we met with a couple of ladies who spend a lot of their time in Puerto Morelos, they invited us to join them at the Jungle Market in the Colona today. The Colona is the section of Puerto Morelos that is on the opposite side of the highway – the jungle side – we are staying in what is considered the hotel zone. They met us at the taxi stand in PM at 10:00 am this morning and took us to a little market building where we bought some produce. One of these ladies has the same problem with sand flea bites that I do, I was telling her that we received an e-mail from Anita – (a friend of Allan’s) and the information was on the good of bananas; one of the
items mentioned was that the banana skin if rubbed on the insect bite will reduce itching. A young Mexican man overheard our conversation and interrupted us to tell us that any part of the banana works. He has spent some of his life in New York and his brother lives in Vancouver so his English was quite easy to understand. She and I bought bananas – and believe it or not “IT WORKS!” When you feel one itch you apply some mashed up banana to the itch and viola! The itch is gone. The husbands were wondering what the addition of ice cream or whipped cream would make! The medics back home are wondering about chocolate cream and bananas – well I will let them know later!! Dwayne says “TOO MUCH INFORAMTION – I DON’T WANT’A KNOW!”
We left the produce market stand and traveled to the Jungle Market – it is in the jungle a short distance outside of the Colona. Here we found food concession stands, craft tables, and entertainment. The entertainment which begins at 11:30 consisted of Ancient Mayan dancing which is preformed by today’s descendants of the Mayan people. Pictures will show you the beautiful costumes they wear. All of the decorative needle work on the dresses is hand done – I looked on the back side and it is as neatly sewn as that on the front! A talent seldom achieved by many.
The balance of our day was very leisurely with a walk on the beach and a Siesta.
Take care until next time,
Anne
Photos of interest Sunday February 17th
These are the friends we met at the meet and greet last Friday, they took us to the Jungle Market
Mayan Dancers at the Jungle Market
These Dancers put on quite a display of their traditional dancing
They had the ladies in the crowd do the beer bottle dance - Allan was shocked that I actually dropped a beer! It hardly hit the ground before I had it on my head again and completed the dance
This is a market in the Colona of Puerto Morelos
More produce at the market
This is the gentleman that lived in New York. He is a believer of mashed bananas being put on insect bites to control the itch
This is the food concession stands at the Jungle Market
This is the gentleman that lived in New York. He is a believer of mashed bananas being put on insect bites to control the itch
This is the food concession stands at the Jungle Market
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