Ambulances donated from Parkview Dekalb head down to Mexico for COVID-19 relief

The Fort Wayne non-profit One World Medics have the mission of refurbishing unused or out of commission emergency vehicles and placing them in communities with limited EMS resources.

On fox 55.?

Ambulances donated from parkview dekalb will be filling a new role preventing the spread of covid-19.fox 55's jeremy masukevich shows us how a fort wayne non profit is repurposing emergency vehicles for pandemic relief in mexico.

Nat bryan if we can help them out and make their job a little easier then that's what we are going to do for them.

One world medics has the mission of refurbishing under used or out of commision ambulances and donating them to communities with limited ems resourcesnat bryan they have reached the end of their life here, but they have tons of life left in them co-founder bryan peterson says he heard of two previously used ambulances from parkview dekalb and they were happy to donate the vehicles for a new purpose.lower third: bryan peterson, one world medics co-founder sot bryan ems had a retired unit that they were going to trade in and i said hey i know some people that could use it.

They believe in our mission and they believe this is the right thing to do with them.the two ambulances from parkview dekalb will bring the total to 6 ambulances one world medics has found a new home for since november.lower third: jerry shultz, one world medics volunteer sot jerry i thought we were going to have a little bit of a dry spell.

I thought well maybe this has run through.

Right as corona was kicking off we were able to secure a lot of donations.the ambulances will be used to transport covid-19 patients from hospitals in mexico... to medical centers where they can receive the treatment they need.the vehicles are being donated to fire departments in ciudad morelos and san luis rio colorado.sot bryanthat particular fire department's fire chief has ties here in fort wayne so its even that more meaningful to us not only show support down in mexico but for their family that is here in fort waynepeterson says making the drive down that includes 3 stops as well as picking up a third donated ambulance in iowa will be no easy task.but knowing the vehicles will make a difference in communities in need makes every mile worth it.

Sot bryan for the last 33 years i have been riding around in an ambulance and usually its just from here to saint joe but to go 2,000 miles in one of these things is not a pleasant experience, but we do what we gotta do.

In fort wayne, jeremy masukevich, fox 55 news