# Latin American EMS



## Rialaigh (Oct 6, 2012)

Hey guys, I am new to the community and posted a little bit about myself under "New guy in town" thread in the EMS Lounge. I had a very limited amount of experience with EMS in Guatemala I thought I would share. I am also wondering if anyone could share some experience on EMS systems, medical missions, or EMS jobs in Latin American countries. 


I went to Guatemala this past spring, for 2 weeks and I spent 4 full days (24 hour shifts) in a row running EMS and fire calls with the Guatemala City Fire Department. First day I think we ran 22 calls on the ambulance, transported about half. I got to run about 50 calls total, about 80% trauma calls. The equipment is pretty out of date and everything (I mean everything) is reused including intibation equipment, non rebreathers, etc. I got to visit three hospitals down there and spent some time talking to training officers and looking at their materials. I enjoyed my experience immensley and am looking forward to going back next year hopefully (when I complete my paramedic) and put in some time volunteering down there.

I was wondering if anyone could describe (or PM) me some of their experiences with EMS (or fire service, rescue, disaster response, etc) in Latin American Countries.


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## Steveb (Oct 19, 2012)

This Dec Ill be doing a ridealonge with the Paramedics in Havana Cuba. Ill let you know how that goes....


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## Rialaigh (Oct 20, 2012)

Steveb said:


> This Dec Ill be doing a ridealonge with the Paramedics in Havana Cuba. Ill let you know how that goes....



Sounds good, would love to know what the environment, equipment, and especially the scope of practice is like down there. Good luck and be safe


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## Martyn (Oct 23, 2012)

Take a look at this:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rORB6S2MwyU[/YOUTUBE]


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## bigbaldguy (Oct 23, 2012)

Steveb said:


> This Dec Ill be doing a ridealonge with the Paramedics in Havana Cuba. Ill let you know how that goes....



I'm green with envy.


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## bigbaldguy (Oct 23, 2012)

Rialaigh said:


> The equipment is pretty out of date and everything (I mean everything) is reused including intibation equipment, non rebreathers, etc.



Entire hospitals in Mexico operate for a month with less then many hospitals in the US waste in supplies in a single day. It's really kind of appalling. 

It's awesome you had this opertunity. I was once told the mark of a truly excellent medical provider is their ability to improvise and nothing trains a person better at improvisation then working in a third world medical system.


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## Commonsavage (Nov 1, 2012)

*Latin America, Caribbean, and other International Volunteers...*

Would you mind posting contact information for the various services for which you've done volunteering/ride-a-longs?  Ideally, I'd like to put together a data base of contacts for EMS volunteering opportunities.  Please, post here or PM me. Thanks.


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## Minog100 (Nov 12, 2012)

I'm also interested in learning about any volunteer/work contacts for anywhere in Latin America. Anything helps, thx.


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## Rialaigh (Nov 13, 2012)

Martyn said:


> Take a look at this:
> 
> [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rORB6S2MwyU[/YOUTUBE]



The station that most of this is filmed at is right in the center of the city and I road out of it for 2 of my days down there. I saw some of those people and was like damn, I road with them. The ambulance and fire truck at 8:37 I rode on out of that station. We ran mostly medicals but I rode backwards on that fire truck to a fire call at 3am one morning. 


I can't wait to go back. Would love to hookup with some of you more experience guys on here and after I get my medic in July I am planning on trying to make a trip late next year.


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## Steveb (Dec 30, 2012)

I just got back from my trip to Cuba  and did a ride along with the Paramedic Service in Havana all and all it was great. The  medics were very friendly people. The calls were umhhh "interesting". It was neat to get to experience a different EMS system .


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## dancelife8712 (Nov 6, 2014)

Hoping this thread is still alive. I'm looking for some info about volunteering abroad as an EMT- preferably South America. Being an EMT, I don't have a lot of money and all the programs I've looked at seem ridiculously expensive. Any tips would be great.


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## harold1981 (Nov 8, 2014)

I did ride alongs with ambulances of the FD of Medellin in Colombia and with the Red Cross in Santo Domingo. Very shocking to see the circumstances in which these medics work.


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## lifeway (Nov 22, 2014)

Hey glad there's someone out there who can share their similar experiences  I'm a nursing student in Belize as well as volunteer firefighter, EMT, and work with the national search and rescue team. I've lived in Belize for almost a decade. The EMS system here has improved a lot over the past years but still has some gaps in regards to training and issues with licensure. There is no paramedic training available in the country and the training is basically to the level of an advanced EMT plus ACLS. 

There are only 2 EMS companies in the entire country but the population is only about 350,000. The southern end of the country is basically without any ambulance service. I believe that will eventually change and the EMS here will improve but it all takes time. 

I've traveled quite a bit in Mexico and Guatemala but I'm not familiar with their EMS systems.


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## AustinMCB (Jun 7, 2015)

My name is Austin. Im looking to work or volunteer in Latin America in the EMS system, maybe in Belize, maybe Mexico. Im not sure, I just know that this where I am supposed to go. I am currently an EMT, and with some experience I will go back to the states and get my Paramedic so that I can return and help with training and providing better patient care in Latin America. How Can I make this dream a reality?


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## BigBad (Sep 8, 2015)

Steveb said:


> This Dec Ill be doing a ridealonge with the Paramedics in Havana Cuba. Ill let you know how that goes....



Can I come with?


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## SandpitMedic (Sep 8, 2015)

BigBad said:


> Can I come with?


If you have a time machine.... That post was in 2012.


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## BigBad (Sep 8, 2015)

Well how was it?


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## SandpitMedic (Sep 8, 2015)

Steveb said:


> I just got back from my trip to Cuba  and did a ride along with the Paramedic Service in Havana all and all it was great. The  medics were very friendly people. The calls were umhhh "interesting". It was neat to get to experience a different EMS system .





BigBad said:


> Well how was it?



................. Read. All. The. Posts.

Lol


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## EchoMedical (Jul 13, 2016)

lifeway said:


> Hey glad there's someone out there who can share their similar experiences  I'm a nursing student in Belize as well as volunteer firefighter, EMT, and work with the national search and rescue team. I've lived in Belize for almost a decade. The EMS system here has improved a lot over the past years but still has some gaps in regards to training and issues with licensure. There is no paramedic training available in the country and the training is basically to the level of an advanced EMT plus ACLS.
> 
> There are only 2 EMS companies in the entire country but the population is only about 350,000. The southern end of the country is basically without any ambulance service. I believe that will eventually change and the EMS here will improve but it all takes time.
> 
> I've traveled quite a bit in Mexico and Guatemala but I'm not familiar with their EMS systems.



I am very interested in EMS in Belize. I am an EMT-B and Emergency Nurse. I would love to hear about trainings that are available and any updates since your last post.


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