Today we lost one of our most cherished veteran first-responders. So much was his greatness that only his humility and courage surpassed it. We saw him carry wounded children, men and women amid shootings and tear gas during civil unrest and civil war.

He had an unwavering spirit of service. Manuel Funes “El Colera” as we affectionately called him in within our ranks.

The Board of Directors of Comandos de Salvamento regret the death of our colleague and friend who for many years wore the yellow uniform dedicating his time to the service of others.

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59 years ago, 10 brave men decided to begin a life adventure of helping others and now that spirit continues through the lives of thousands of young volunteers that are part of the great Comandos de Salvamento healthcare organization.

The dedication in our volunteers extends to every fabric of Salvadoran society. Our volunteers are housewives, caregivers, and  professionals dedicate themselves to the service of the Salvadoran public.

Many youth, men and women leave their homes in order to be first responders to Motor Vehichle accidents that have increased over the last few months. They expect nothing in return  and at times, a common thank you from the community that sees them in the pre hospital care environment makes them extremely proud for having saved a life.

59 years has been difficult since most of the first decades was funded by CDS first responders soliciting donations on the public transportation system.

Our volunteers have risked and lost their lives during natural disasters such as Hurricane Fifi, Mitch, Stan and have rescued many from floodings and land slides.

The civil war left a bad taste in our mouth due to difficult memories being in the crossfire of both sides of the argument, but we gained respect from each side due to our strong value of neutrality helping victims of both sides and civilians caught in between.

Our institution also was brought up to be a possible nominee for the nobel peace price some years ago and now arriving at the age of 59, the governing board thanks these 10 men that started this grass roots organization that was then based in Ciudad Delgado. They put their heart and soul into the founding of CDS EL SALVADOR.

During the celebration at the Central Base of Comandos, other sponsoring agencies were thanked for their spirit of solidarity. This included: FEDECACES, Pan Génesis, Plus Makers, and Doctors without Borders SPAIN. ARENA party representative José Andrés Hernández sponsored the celebration and is also advocating for a more positive fiscal sponsorship from the governmant so that Comandos can provide quality Community and EMS health care in 2020.