Community

Red Cross provides Ambulance Service and much more

By Catherine Krantz

Red Cross gets two new ambulances, one by surprise ! Ambulance Operator Isaac Campuzano Bravo and Zihuatanejo Red Cross President Debora Mione, (above) with one of two new Red Cross ambulances. This 1995 model ambulance was won by Chief Concepcion Elizabeth Cuadra Martinez, in a raffle at the Mexican National Red Cross Convention in Sonora, in November, where donated ambulances, rescue cars and administrative cars are raffled off within the organization. They are still awaiting the arrival of their brand new 2006 model ambulance that they were able to purchase from funds raised through Zihuatanejo’s schools.

Red Cross Fact: The red cross is not a religious symbol but in some parts of the world it is seen that way; for that reason, in most Islamic countries the symbol for the Red Cross is the Red Crescent, and in Israel the Red Shield of David is used.

In a non-descript building half hidden by plants at 116 Paseo de las Huertas lies the Zihuatanejo delegation of the International Red Cross, or in Spanish Cruz Roja (pronounced Cruise Row-ha.) Founded in 1975, Zihuatanejo’s delegation of the international aid organization is going strong, and provides the citizens and visitors of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo ambulance service, emergency care and some great health care options. If you see the plastic donation jugs around town make sure and toss in a few coins, they have been providing a great service here for many years, usually for free or at very low cost, and as always can use the help.

Ambulance & Medical Service
Take a moment to write down or program in these telephone numbers, dialing 065 from a telephone, or 114 from a cell phone will connect you to the 24 hour Emergency dispatch for ambulances. The Red Cross provides Intensive Care ambulance service with qualified medical emergency service volunteers for all of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, with emergency care and transport to area hospitals as a free service. The Red Cross Ambulance service area is tremendous; it covers an area almost to Lazaro Cardenas in the north and to as far south as Papanoa. They are not the only ambulances in town but they are the only non-fee service exclusively for public use, and because of their non-governmental status and the fact that they are run by unpaid volunteers, they usually require less money and have an easier time getting the necessary funding, repairs, and maintenance to keep their fleet on the road. For a fee, they also offer airvac coordination and transport to the airport for persons needing to be evacuated by air and land transport to hospitals in Acapulco and Mexico City. In addition to ambulance service they are available 24 hours a day for walk-in emergencies. Their three on-staff doctors and one dentist are also available for routine medical care and consultations providing low cost medical attention for residents. Doctors are on site from 7am – 11pm, seven days a week while the dentist is available only in the afternoons; there are small fees for consultations and teeth-cleaning is $100 pesos. If you find yourself needing non-emergency first aid, any taxi can get you to the “Cruise Row-Ha.” I myself had occasion to use their services after stepping into a hole several years ago, and can attest to their good natured and thorough attendance. Not to mention pain-minimizing skill at scraping tiny pebbles and grit from large painful cuts, and all they asked for in return was a donation to cover the cost of the antiseptic.

Education
Beyond offering medical aid, the real backbone of the Red Cross efforts in Mexico is education. They are a certified SEC school accredited by the secretary of education and hold year-round classes in many levels of medical and disaster response training. The Zihuatanejo delegation of the Mexican Red Cross is operated by a small staff and 32 trained and certified volunteers. To be a volunteer you must be 18 years of age and take a three-month education course in basic first aid and medical response. This level of training places them directly below a paramedic and gives them the title socorrista, which means lifeguard or lifesaver. After this course they may continue on to paramedic studies, called (TUM) Tecnico en Urgencias Medicos, emergency medical technician, of which there are varying levels of expertise, each level requiring around one year of study. Most of the classes are held right here in Zihuatanejo, but some specialized training requires travel to Red Cross courses in other cities, such as the certified ambulance driver training course held in Acapulco that three Zihuatanejo drivers recently attended, and that all drivers are required to pass before they can get behind the wheel. Also held in Acapulco was the Natural Disaster response course, where the two Zihuatanejo volunteers who attended learned rescue techniques across rivers during high flooding, skills they were later able to use when they were sent to join the relief effort in southern Mexico when hurricane related flooding caused such devastation this year. Seminars held in Zihuatanejo have included a “Jaws of Life” certification course from the manufacturer of the metal cutting instrument that helps extract trapped persons from cars. They are required to re-test with this tool twice a year, and often seek out demolished cars to practice on. They also offer courses to the public such as certified CPR courses (held in Spanish) with a minimum of five participants. For children they have an educational youth group, Juventud, which meets each weekend for camp, where basic medical and first aid is taught, along with the history and aims of the Red Cross and their humanitarian efforts. During the month of October the Zihuatanejo Red Cross went out on 185 Ambulance calls, of which 118 were emergencies.

How you can help
The International Red Cross is a humanitarian aid organization whose mission is to provide relief in times of natural disasters and wars and to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. To that end the Zihuatanejo Red Cross holds annual fund drives; in March each year, you will see plastic money collection buckets with big red crosses on the front being held by young volunteers at stop signs around town and sitting on bars at restaurants; you can drop in a few coins or stop by the Red Cross to make donations. They can also provide a receipt for income tax write-offs and deductions that are good for U.S. and Mexican taxes. They do accept donated clothing but require that it come only in transparent bags and be pre-sorted and separated by one bag for children, one for women and one for adults. They also need towels and sheets for their own facility and do often accept used or new pots, pans, dishes and plastic storage containers that they store here and disperse when needed.

For more information see the national Mexican Red Cross website http://www.cruzrojamexicana.org or the local Zihuatanejo website http://www.cruzroja-ixtapazihuatanejo.com. You can contact the local delegation administration by email at cruzzihuatanejo@hotmail.com or call the office at 755-554-9432

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