Imagine calling 112 to request an ambulance and being told, “Sorry the ambulance has broken down.” During the summer of 2012 when a prolonged drought created numerous wildfires in the câmara of São Brás de Ãlportel, this nearly became a reality.
The câmara of São Brás de Ãlportel is served by a volunteer fire/emergency department that works primarily with outdated and second hand equipment. Many of the residents live in small villages and isolated farms accessible only by very rugged dirt roads, some of which can be washed away completely in a wet winter.
During drought periods and the resultant wildfires, such as occurred in the summer of 2012, the ambulances are needed as support vehicles for firefighting volunteers and fire victims.
The câmara of São Brás de Ãlportel covers an area of 15 hectares with a population of approximately 15,000. The Bombeiros of São Brás number 60 paid and volunteer workers, including 14 qualified paramedics, who respond to over 900 emergency calls annually and provide more than 1000 patient transfers between São Brás and the regional hospital in Faro, in addition to their firefighting duties. Much of their equipment is outdated and second-hand, in fact, only one of the current fleet of 5 ambulances is equipped to provide treatment during patient transfers.
The câmara has a small budget, sufficient to cover only insurance, fuel and maintenance on the vehicles, there is no budget for new equipment. In fact, some of the volunteers are mechanics by trade and volunteer their time to service the emergency vehicles in-house.
Recently the ever resourceful Bombeiros rebuilt much of their garage facility with donated materials and even added two meeting rooms which are frequently rented out for community functions, thus helping to raise much needed funds to maintain their equipment.
With no funds in the camara’s budget for new equipment, last year the local community began to hold fundraising activities and managed to raise some €4,000 towards the price of a new ambulance. It was estimated that approximately €60,000 would be needed to purchase the ambulance, a considerable amount in this strained economic climate.
When the Rotary Club Estoi Palace International heard about the community’s efforts, they approached the Bombeiros about the possibility of providing them with a brand new ambulance. A funding plan was developed to purchase and donate a new ambulance valued at €54,602.00.
With the valuable assistance of Rotary Coordinator, Chris Garner, Rotary Estoi Palace International contacted other Rotary Clubs and Districts hoping to develop a plan using a Rotary Foundation matching grant scheme to raise the necessary funds. This is a Rotary Foundation scheme that allows qualified Rotary clubs to work with other clubs and Rotary districts to apply for funds for larger projects. This meant that a high percentage of the funding could therefore come directly from The Rotary Foundation headquartered in Chicago.
Rotary Club Estoi Palace International held a very successful golf fundraiser at the beautiful Monte Rei Golf and Country Club in Vila Nova de Cacela in August of this year, the proceeds of which were put towards the ambulance fund.
Later in the summer the matching grant was approved by Rotary Foundation headquarters in Chicago and Rotary Club Estoi Palace International was assisted by donations from other Rotary clubs and Rotary districts in Texas and Brazil to reach their final goal.
With the funding in place the vehicle was ordered from a firm called Auto Ribeiro near Porto.
On 18th January, 2014, at a ceremony beginning at 12:00 noon, the new ambulance will be formally delivered and handed over to the Bombeiros at their garage facility in São Brás, followed by a luncheon to be attended by various local dignitaries and guests.
