The program for End of Life Education will be presented today, March 19, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis St.
Please enter from the parking lot.
The emergency medical response team for Pagosa Springs Medical Center recently added a new staff member, Andrew Spangler, focusing almost solely on education.
He will be speaking to the public at two of our meetings — on March 19 and April 16.
His comments will be for senior citizens, but he will also include material for the general public sharing what they need to know about emergency education. That is why everyone is invited to attend. Knowledge about an emergency medical program is beneficial to everyone.
If you are deciding whether or not to come to this meeting, there are a few questions you can ask yourself” Have I signed a do-not-resuscitate form? Do I know consequences of having or not having that form? Have I ever called 911? Do I know what they can do?
We will have another new speaker at End of Life Education on April 30. He is Brad Hunt, our Archuleta County coroner.
State laws have changed and the coroner must be more involved in every death call. We tried to have the coroner come several years ago, but he had to cancel due to the emergency nature of his work. Hunt promised that we will be his No. 1 priority on April 30 from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m.
It might turn out to be the most important thing you do on that day. If you ever need to work with him, it can be beneficial to have met him and know what to expect. He is diligent.
These will be three emotionally challenging programs, but with caring and sensitive people working together, we can handle almost anything.
If you come, please be prepared for a challenge. You may get to practice asking for help. We have several medical doctors and several counselors who have been part of End of Life Education in the past. Plus, there are other amazingly caring people at our meetings.
We will also discuss what other speakers we want to have this year. Should we have speakers from one or both of the funeral homes and the crematorium?
There will be some options for getting details about Colorado’s end-of-life laws that have very specific rules that must be followed. It is great having such laws to help us, but you must be prepared with information. What else would you like to learn about?
I hope to see you there for a great learning experience and something that you will find to be most helpful. We almost always find that we are more capable and stronger than we ever thought we were. We will be learning a great deal at each of these programs.
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