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Colorado County Commissioners Court proclaimed Sept. 11-13 as Colorado County Fair Days and recognized a $10,000 donation to Colorado County EMS, Monday, Aug. 25, at the County Courthouse in Columbus.
Fair days
County Judge Ty Prause read the proclamation for the Colorado County Fair, inviting community members to attend. The fair will be held during the second weekend of September and will celebrate its 47th anniversary.
“Enjoy a parade, rodeo, entertainment and the educational opportunities for our youth as well as our seniors,” Prause read. “…[The commissioners court] extends its thanks to the many volunteers whose dedication is an essential part of the success of the county fair.”
County Fair board members Heidi May, Christine Grafe, Christy Alonso, Liska Pilsner, Shannan Gerik and Racheal Schneider attended the meeting for the proclamation.
EMS donation
The commissioners court officially recognized Dr. Russell Thomas, a family medicine doctor at Rice Medical Center, for his $10,000 donation to Colorado County EMS for the development of the Whole Blood Program. The Whole Blood Program enables ambulances to stock and utilize blood instead of saline for patients.
“[Whole blood] gives [patients] time to get to a surgeon, to get to an ER. It gives us time to stop bleeding if we can,” Colorado County EMS Assistant Director Marti Ingvardsen said. “…Having seen it firsthand in the field…it’s really miraculous, especially for us out here being as remote as we are.”
Ingvardsen said that while local hospitals have blood, transporting a patient there could take 20-30 minutes. The funds will go towards the cost of the coolers, a tracking system and other supplies. She said the department has been doing background and logistics research to implement the program for a long time.
