Los Alamos Auxiliary Fire Brigade is raising funds to purchase a new litter made of titanium that can be split into two parts and carried on a backpack. Courtesy photo
BY MATT HOLMES
Los Alamos Auxiliary Fire Brigade
We are your local search and rescue “ground-pounding” team. If you or someone you know is injured in a place where the cars don’t go, it’s likely that we will be the ones coming for you. Do you want us to be coming in hard and fast with light gear to get you out as quick as possible, or do you want us to make do with heavy gear from the last century?
We really need to upgrade some of our old specialized rescue equipment. Most immediately, we are fundraising to buy a new rescue litter. The litter is the mobile bed contraption that we will use to carry you out of the backcountry if you are too injured to walk. Our existing one is OLD and HEAVY. How old and how heavy? Our younger team members weren’t even born when the LAAFB obtained this litter. Let’s just say that I helped wheel it nearly eight miles earlier this summer, and I now have a very vested interest in obtaining a new one.
Above is a picture of the type that we really want. It is made of titanium and splits into two parts so that it can be carried on a backpack, enabling us to reach you much faster. It would also greatly increase our range, in case you were really in the back of nowhere. We would use two people to each carry half of the litter, and a third person to carry the wheel—all on our backs.
There are two other ways to donate that might be worth mentioning. For locals that work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, we are on the Giving Campaign list and the Lab will match donations made through that venue. Also, we are available as a charity on smile.amazon.com, in which case Amazon sends us money whenever someone makes a purchase through the smile.amazon.com site (I mention more about this on our general donation page: https://laafb.org/donate/)
Checks may be mailed to: LAAFB Litter Fundraiser, 4017 Arkansas Ave., Los Alamos, NM 87544.