Hospitals Of Hope

          Members of the Emergency Unit in front of the hospital.                The Emergency Unit in action on October 27, 2009.                 In formation in front of the Emergency Base.           The inauguration of the Emergency Base. Members of the Emergency Unit in front of the hospital.

The winding mountain highway leading from Cochabamba to La Paz, Bolivia sees many accidents.  Unfortunately, it frequently takes an hour and a half for help to arrive at an accident scene, since the police and fire stations are all located within the city itself. Even when emergency personnel arrive, few of them have appropriate training in trauma care, meaning that accident victims lose precious time waiting for treatment.  

Our hospital, located on the outskirts of the city, is close to the scene of most of these accidents, and because of this, we have developed a partnership with the extremely under-funded local police and fire departments. The newly formed Brigada de Rescate y Extricacion en Carretera (Highway Rescue and Extrication Brigade), or BREC, is located on the hospital grounds, ensuring that emergency personnel will be able to reach accident scenes more rapidly. This group, which consists of firemen, rescue personnel, and paramedics, is the first, and only, of its kind in Bolivia.

To further improve emergency care, Hospitals of Hope has donated equipment for use by emergency personnel, such as spine boards to be carried in emergency vehicles, fire hoses, and a jaws of life—only the third set in a city of 900,000.  We have also completed training sessions in emergency care for the local police.