Medical Aid for Mexican Sister City

After visiting the Red Cross office in Autlan, Mexico, last February, Sal Placenscia of Camarillo saw dire need.

He witnessed doctors in the community of 60,000 dole out medicine with borrowed bandages and other donated supplies. Patients were shuttled about in a beat-up van.

Outside Camarillo City Hall on Thursday, two months of asking around and soliciting donations paid off as a local company gave an ambulance to Placenscia and the Camarillo-Autlan Sister City Committee he helped establish.

“When we visited the Red Cross in Autlan, they expressed the need for the ambulance and a lot of other medical supplies,” said Placenscia, a Camarillo subcontractor.

“I’ve been asking all over the place for used ambulances, and Med Trans decided to give us one,” said Placenscia, who will drive the vehicle and a collection of donated supplies to Tijuana.

Drivers from Autlan, about two hours outside of Guadalajara, will meet Placenscia at the border and transport the ambulance farther south.

Med Trans spokeswoman Julie Frey said the company typically sells its older ambulances to other countries after about four years of service.

But when Placenscia approached Med Trans, which serves much of Ventura County, executives agreed to donate the used ambulance to the Red Cross in Autlan.

“So many people have helped this business grow, so we’re just giving back to the community,” Frey said. “Besides, they’re driving their patients around in vans and they’re not getting the medical care they need.”