EMS Provider needs help! (Valerie DeFrance thread)

[Jon]

Normally here at EMTLife, we don't shill for outside organizations or partake in fundraising. In fact, I don't think we've ever done it before. Not that there aren't worthy causes, but because it really doesn't pertain to the online EMS community as a whole, and we try to keep that our focus.


This one is different, folks.

Anyone ever been to http://www.defrance.org/? "The EMS House of DeFrance"??? Well, the site admin there, Valerie DeFrance, needs our help.

A little online EMS history for you. Valerie DeFrance has been maintaining an EMS presence online for decades. From Ambulance Driver (Kelly Grayson):

Before there was a JEMS Online or an EMS1 or an EMT City or EMT Life, there was the EMS House of DeFrance, one of the most comprehensive EMS resources on the web. And the person who ran it, my friend Valerie DeFrance, did it for years via a 56k modem from Hope, AK.

I don't believe I've ever met Valerie in person, but I can attest to her impact on our community. She was a driving force behind the ill-fated Prehospital Perspective magazine... an EMS publication BY EMS providers, FOR EMS providers, prior to the blossoming of the Blogosphere. She was a poster on the Yahoo EMT group (where I met some of you before I found this site), and many items posted here as news articles have been found through her site.


Here's the info on what's going on, and what you can do to help, from Of Mule Dung and Ash:

Let's give Valerie a hand

If you don't know Valerie DeFrance you're missing an important piece of EMS history. Valerie was an Internet pioneer, building and hosting dozens of EMS educational websites over the years and she still maintains the EMS news and education site, the EMS House of DeFrance. Valerie is one of our most important EMS dinosaurs. Over the years she has offered her expertise and knowledge to anyone needing a hand, and doing so more often than not without charge. Valerie has always been a giver... never a taker...

Valerie lives 75 miles from the oncology clinic where she goes for her treatments. The ongoing treatments have left her unable to work and therefore without income. Just the simple act of buying gas for these trips back and forth has become problematic and is an immediate need. In the long run there will be those substantial medical bills to pay, but right now we just need to get her to the clinic and back. We need to kick in and help her get past this hurdle.

The goal right now is $10,000. As of this post, it's over $1800 collected. There is a widget ON THIS PAGE that you can go to if you'd like to donate. There's also a snail-mail address in the comments, if that's your thing. And this site: http://valerieshouse.blogspot.com/ will likely have more info, if any, as it develops.



Oh, and if you remember Prehospital Perspective, check out Interventions, a similar concept being published by some friends of mine.

One last housekeeping note - We aren't trying to start a trend with posting "help XYZ" links. Not that they aren't deserving - but there are so many that are deserving that it would be overwhelming.

[Martyn]

Widget link does not work

[Jon]

Here's a link to the site:
http://muledungandash.blogspot.com/2...erie-hand.html

I've heard folks are having an issue with FireFox... perhaps try Chrome (works for me) or IE?

[MMiz]

Originally Posted by Jon

Here's a link to the site:
http://muledungandash.blogspot.com/2...erie-hand.html

I've heard folks are having an issue with FireFox... perhaps try Chrome (works for me) or IE?

Jon,

Nearly every link in your post was broken. I edited the post to fix most of them, and removed the ones I couldn't fix.

It's a great cause for someone that has done a lot for EMS.

[Ambulance_Driver]

"Oh, and if you remember Prehospital Perspective, check out Interventions, a similar concept being published by some friends of mine."

Wow, now THERE'S a blast from the past! I was one of their original editorial board members, and wrote my very first EMS article for publication for PrePer.