The Chinle Field Office, Department of Emergency Medical Services is located in the most Central portion of the Navajo Reservation near a tourist site of the beautiful Canyon De Chelly National Monuments, one of the most visited tourist destinations within the Navajo Nation. It’s also on the more isolated and traditional regions, a strong cultural and historical ties for all Dine’ People.
The surrounding communities over the last few years has grown from a small community with a Trading Post based economy to a vibrant and growing areas with numerous hotels, restaurants and other tourist businesses due to increasing number of visitors from all parts of the world to Canyon De Chelly.
Our office is located at the Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility in Chinle, Arizona and based out of the Emergency Room Department. Chinle Field Office operations are a twenty four hours and seven days a week with one or two ambulance unit in operations. Two or four New Mexico license Emergency Medical Technician personnel responding to all 9-1-1 calls within our communities. The staffs are very unique with providing patient care utilizing their professional skills and licensed at the EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedics level.
Our response times ranges from 30 minutes to an hour or more, within the communities of Rock Point, Many Farms, Rough Rock, Lukachukai, Tsaile, Wheatfields, Cottonwood and Nazlini Chapters, which all surrounds the Chinle Valley. The majority of the areas are remote and rural areas, most roads are dirt road which makes it more challenging for our ambulances to go off roads during raining and winter seasons. Navajo families and our elderly are challenged with growing diabetes in these remotes areas, some with cardiac history. The recent opening of the Pinon Field Office which is located about 45 miles west of Chinle is one of the office that is our goals to alleviate response time and to decrease our call volumes to these area.
The Emergency Medical Technicians are involved with community presentations, injury preventions, EMS Week and wellness programs. These programs include: diabetes educations, school presentations, seat belts/car seats effort and DUI. We continue to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation and 1st Aid courses and continuing education classes.
Other entities were involved with are the Navajo Nation Law Enforcement-Chinle Police District, Apache County Sheriffs, Arizona Division of Public Safety, Navajo Tribal Rangers, and the Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue-Chinle Fire District.