The Stevens County Medical Foundation has recently donated three backboards to Stevens County Emergency Services.   Rodney Kelling, Emergency Services Coordinator, was on hand to accept the donation. The backboards will enable all three ambulances to add the handy backboards to their equipment.  
The backboards are like a full bodied splint except they are special.  A foot rest can be pulled out so the patient can be transported standing up or lying down, maintaining spinal stabilization.  There are wheels on the backboards which make it easier to get up and down stairs.  They can be mainly used in the new motel which has three stories and patients may have to be transported in the elevator.  The elevator is too small to lay the patient down, making it necessary to transport the patient in the upright position.
The new backboards can also be used in small houses that do not have much space for maneuverability.  The backboards that the EMTs formerly used did not have  the foot rest, so they could not be used upright.
The Stevens County Medical Foundation Board consists of Alta Pettis, Sharon Concannon, Rhonda McBride, Sherri Leonard, Therlene Kindswater, Max Williams, Lorrie Nicodemus, Mary Gonzales and Tommy Romero. Their funding comes from tax exempt donations and grants.