First Aid is a serious business.  The Promotores today watched photo and instructional slides on life-threatening maladies and what to do (or not to do).   Most of us have had a first or even a second degree burn (with blisters), but what should they do for a third degree burn? How do you treat hemorraghing of a major artery or a suspected spine injury?  What is the difference between treating a sprain, a dislocated joint or a fracture?

Sometimes the answer is that the best you can do is make the patient calm and comfortable and set up a IV to keep the patient hydrated until an ambulance comes, which is many cases is life-saving.  The Promotores have serious expressions because they are truly absorbing what Dr. Roberto is instructing them to do with the contents of their medical kits.  We like these serious expressions because we know they really care!

Yesterday was an important day for our Promotores.  They learned all different kinds of bandaging and stabilization.  Sometimes they practices on the brigade members and sometimes on each other.  They also received intensive instruction in nutrition from the nutritionists who are also part of our team.

Since metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are extremely common here, education in this area is a very high priority, so our Promotores can share their knowledge with their neighbors.  Malnutrition during pregnancy and early childhood development is also a problem here so it is easy to see why this part of the training program is of vital importance!

Today, a number of villagers were too ill too leave their homes, so the team made house calls.   One brigade member is using her phone to shine light onto this patient’s ears so her colleague can clean his ears.  Many of the bedridden had untreated sores that needed cleaning and bandaging.  Others were just too sick to be brought to the brigade’s temporary clinic.  Many of these young men and women went without the big midday meal (comida) today because they would not leave until everyone was treated.  Tonight, Laura is taking them out for a special dinner to thank them for their hard work and dedication!

Here’s our hardworking team from UVM! Yesterday, ALL of our Promotores passed their CPR exams, thanks to the excellent training provided by our team.  Today, they will continue training our Promotores and will provide care and free medication to the people of Carrizos de Arriba, Jalisco.

All the consultations and medications were free to the people of Los Aguirres, Jalisco. The weather was quite hot, dusty and muggy today, but the team from UVM (Universidad del Valle de Mexico) worked hard for hours until the last patient was seen. With just a 20 minute break for the midday meal, the team quickly went on to continue the lecture portions of Tia’s Promotores’ training program.  These lectures are held at the Centro de Salud in San Juan de los Lagos, where the facilities have more advanced technology available for the PowerPoint slides.