American Medical Response’s (AMR) Redlands Division was honored to give 9-year-old Victor Hipolito the gift of enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with his family.
Victor was born with a complex medical condition that requires continuous ventilator support. Due to his medical condition, Victor resides at Totally Kids, a pediatric sub-acute facility in Redlands, to receive the around-the-clock care he needs.
As part of their Home for the Holiday’s program and in partnership with Totally Kids, AMR provided Victor with round-trip transportation and medical supervision by a Respiratory Therapist unit so he was able to spend a Thanksgiving at home with family.
“Victor was initially set-up to go Home for the holidays last year for Christmas. But right before the holiday, Victor’s family came down with an illness and they had to cancel the trip. When AMR reached out to see if Victor’s family would like to try again for Thanksgiving, the family was in tears. This was such a special opportunity, we’re so glad Victor was able to go Home for the holidays this year,” said Elizabeth Chick, a social worker at Totally Kids who helps to manage Victor’s care and needs.
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AMR’s Home for the Holiday’s program provides courtesy round-trip transportation with medical supervision for patients like Victor, gifting them time to spend with family and friends during the holidays.
To safely transport Victor on Thanksgiving, AMR’s Critical Care Transport (CCT) team included Respiratory Therapist Ramon Paez, EMT Jacob Miller and EMT Samantha Mia, who all came in on their day off to make this special trip happen.
Victor’s family spent the day together like millions of other families did this Thanksgiving, which was only something they could dream about until the Home for the Holidays program.
Victor’s family welcomed the AMR crew to join them for their Thanksgiving feast and after a few hours together, filled with hugs and kisses, Victor made his way back to Totally Kids safely. It was an honor and a joy for the team from AMR to work with Totally Kids to make this special day happen for Victor.
