I also work in a small rural community hospital. I recieved my ALS Simulator, with all the additional accessories, last week. We got our money from a community foundation and our hospital foundation. There are a lot of private foundations out there with money to give away, but sometimes they are hard to find. Here's some other options. There are a lot of federal grants, but they are very time consuming to write the grant proposals and then if you get money, the reporting. But usually definately worth it. Most federal grants are handled through the states. Look into "emergency preparedness" grants. In addition to partnering with universities/community colleges, you might also consider partnering with your local fire department or EMS agency. There is a lot of money that fire departments have access to from federal grants through the Department of Homeland Security. The various foundations love to give money that is being combined with other foundations money. For example, our community foundation was willing to fund our purchase with a 50/50 match. So our hospital foundation gave us 25% and we were able to get a local corporate donor to give the other 25%. They all get the credit for nearly a $20,000 purchase but none of them spent over $10,000. For smaller purchases you might also check out your local Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a foundation that uses money from the local stores to fund local projects or purchases.
Good Luck.