In spite Conejos County being one of the poorest counties in Colorado, Conejos County Emergency Medical Services is doing their best to see that the citizens of Conejos County receive the best emergency medical care possible.

Conejos County EMS is directed under TJ Salazar, RN, Assistant EMS Director and Paramedic Ernest Abeyta, along with their Medical Director Dr. Donna Nelson. According to Dr. Donna Nelson, the Conejos County Commissioners have designated several full time positions for CCEMS that allows us to have EMT’s and paramedics on duty to respond immediately to emergency medical calls 24 hours a day from their base. Conejos County EMS has also been able to increase the number of paramedics and EMT-Intermediates on staff who are able to administer advanced life support in the field. Three of their crew members currently have their critical care certification.

The EMS team undergoes continuous education to update their knowledge and skills on a monthly basis. TJ states, “This is a line of work that demands frequent training in order to be up to date with the constant changes in emergency medicine treatment.”

All of these changes and improvements are helping Conejos EMS maintain the highest level of care for the citizens of Conejos County. Ernest says, “Since the change to full-time staffing, the response times to 911 calls have improved drastically. Response times have improved by 50 percent from where they were a year ago; 87 percent of our calls have a response time from the initial page within 3-5 minutes. This is huge when it comes to the 1,291 square miles we have to cover. There are times it takes us 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to the scene of a call, such as Platoro. When it comes to medical and trauma emergencies every second counts and we are working hard to create a consistency to provide advanced medical care around the clock.”

Conejos County EMS is the only agency in the San Luis Valley that runs off of its own revenue. Special District status is a goal that TJ and Ernest have for this service. TJ says, “Special district status would really help in maintaining a high level of care 24/7 with paramedics and Advanced level providers. Meanwhile, we will continue to do the best we can with what we have to serve the people in our community!”