SAN CLEMENTE : Ambulance Will Be Sent to Sister City

A group of local philanthropists will soon be sending a “lifesaver” of a gift--a surplus city ambulance--to San Clemente’s sister city, San Clemente del Tuyu, in Argentina.

Members of the San Clemente Rotary Club and Sister City Assn. capped five months of work to buy the 1985 ambulance from the city with a rummage sale and raffle last weekend, raising enough money to pay off a $3,000 loan needed to close the deal.

Sister City Assn. President Byron Marshall said the ambulance is desperately needed in San Clemente del Tuyu, a coastal town of about 20,000 about 200 miles east of Buenos Aires. With the “tragic state” of the Argentine economy, the hospital that serves San Clemente del Tuyu and six other neighboring towns barely has enough money for basic medical supplies, much less a new ambulance, Marshall said.

“There’s about 150,000 people in these smaller cities, and they are being served right now by a 1959 model” ambulance, he said. “The new ambulance will really be a lifesaver.”

Local fire officials replaced the Ford/Stoner ambulance with a newer one almost two years ago, something they must do every three or four years because of the high level of use the ambulances receive, according to a city report.

“These units are no longer dependable for our needs. However, they could be in service, at a lower level of use, for many years without any major problems,” Support Services Chief Gene F. Begnell told the City Council in a report this summer.

Fire officials placed the ambulance on the city surplus list several months ago, a move that made it available for sale through a competitive sealed bid process or public auction. In June, the City Council decided to accept sealed bids for its purchase, helping the chances of the Sister City Assn. and Rotary Club to buy the ambulance.

Marshall said he expects the ambulance to reach Argentina by ship within the next couple of months. The Argentine government is expected to pick up the shipping and handling costs, Marshall said.

This is not the first time local philanthropists have helped supply medical equipment to Argentina and the people of San Clemente del Tuyu. In the last five years alone, the Rotary Club Argentina Project, headed by Marshall, has sent about $500,000 worth of medical equipment and other items, including much-needed incubators for premature babies, to needy hospitals in Argentina.

San Clemente del Tuyu has been the official sister city of San Clemente since 1969.