At 1025pm, dispatch recieved a call requesting the Comandos Search and Rescue team in order to help find 23 people who had gotten lost while hiking the Santa Ana Volcano. The Central Base SAR group and a small EMS unit was dispatched along with support from cds delegate bases of Apopa and El Congo.
23 CDS members arrived to the scene and coordinated with other SAR members of the Salvadoran Red Cross. The location of the hiking group was finalized at 445am. Treatment included attending to possible hypothermia yet none presented with any acute injuries or symptoms. At 53oam, descent operations of the patients started. The operation ended safely at 930am. More information in Spanish here.
Veteran Comando EMS member Douglas Perez attends to 11 month old patient Elias Daniel Cruz who presented with respitory distress and stridor. The patient and family members were safely transported to Bloom Children´s Hospital in Central San Salvador. Photo: Mark Hoffman
Christmas Day at 2pm at the central base of Comandos, a pickup carrying a family in crisis arrived after being escorted by the National Civilian Police. Family members state that Emma del Trancito Moreno had attempted suicide by cutting her left wrist. The patient presented acutely depressed and actively stated she wanted her life to end. With family collaboration, the patient was transported to the Rosales Hospital emergency room after applying a first aid compress on her wrist to stabilize circulation. Photos: Mark Hoffman
At 1:00 pm Comandos de Salvamento dispatched EMS workers Jose Alberto Guzman and Rigoberto Manzor to Ciudad Delgado in order to assist a 19 yo Omar Eduardo Valdez, of Pizza Hut Delivery who was hit by a vehicle while riding a motorcycle. Upon arrival the patient presented lucid with possible injuries to his left knee, ankle, and a possible fracture of his left hand. Only 3 minutes after leaving the scene, the same EMS unit witnessed 24 yo Jose Antonio Garcia being hit by a vehicle, flipping him in the air and landing him on his side. While the other patient presented stable in the ambulance, Jose Alberto Guzman immediately attended to the second patient who presented with abdominal pain and other traumas. Another ambulance from the main base in San Salvador was dispatched since there was no space in the first one. Both patients arrived safely to local Emergency rooms. More images on our flickr. Photos: Mark Hoffman
The Comandos have been enjoying eating out at the best outdoor downtown cafes since they have existed. International Volunteer Mark Hoffman has known about this special ¨carnitas¨place since 1996 when he volunteered with EMS workers Edgar Jhonny and Luis Colato. On Dec 14th, during breaks between emergency calls, the Comandos again relived the great taste of the hula hula by eating carne asada at carnitas hula hula outdoor cafe. Unfortunately the cafe is not in the safest of places. A grenade incident that took place a few days later resulted in 16 injured patients 2 of which presented with acute injuries and one that expired on the way to the hospital. More info here.
Pictured are EMS workers Kolato, Ignacio, Marco, Arnulfo and Franklin.
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