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Dear Supporter,

This month has been a very active and successful! A major success was the delivering of the Emergency First Responder (EFR) training course to our partners here in Playa del Carmen. Not only are we equipping them with lifesaving skills, we are creating a safer environment for the wider community. Knowledge is empowering in all forms, but the critical knowledge of how to potentially save a life or prevent death, transcends this.

There are approx. 4 million traffic accidents registered in Mexico each year, claiming the lives of 24,000 people. In conjunction with work related accidents and other incidents of random nature, it is imperative that all of the staff within GVI and our partners are equipped to assist in these emergencies. By providing emergency treatment you could be potentially saving their lives, or minimizing the lasting damage to their health. This if possible, is even more critical to our partners who work with vulnerable people on a daily basis. The children are vulnerable and in our care, we therefore have a duty to do everything in our power to maintain a safe environment.

In total we have trained all 9 Ludotecarias from the Save the Children Ludotecas in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and 3 members of the Special Needs School from the Equine therapy and Integral Care center throughout the month of April.  In preparation for their training the new EFR recruits were given a booklet of basic information to read to assist them in understanding the material that was going to be presented to them. During this initial phase the EFR teaches you how to respond to an emergency, what you should do, who you should contact and how to administer potentially lifesaving treatment until professional help arrives. 

This training included how to respond to emergencies with children.  This is particularly relevant for the Ludotecarias who deal with up to 100 children in one day. It is also relevant to the special needs school, for although they are dealing with children with far more complex medical needs, the basic treatment in life threatening situations is universal and an essential skill for anyone working with vulnerable people to possess.

In addition to dealing with urgent life threatening injury, the EFR also trains practitioners in secondary injury care such as splints, minor head injuries and other non-life threatening injuries. These are the skills that are most frequently required by emergency responders, particularly those working with children. The ludotecarias often have to deal with large numbers of play related injuries such as scraped knees and bump heads. Equally sometimes more than a basic dressing can be required and a more advanced skill is required to treat the injury.

After a challenging couple of days of training, our brave recruits had to toil through an exam about everything they had learnt, that they all passed with excellence.  

 It was a pleasure to share imperative knowledge with our implementing partners. The EFR training was a chance to help improve the organizations and ultimately make the projects safer for everyone involved. The wider community of Playa del Carmen (inclusive of every child, person and tourist) benefits from having more people in possession of these skills should some accident befall them.

Links:

• http://www.gvi.org