The year 2020 ended with the attention of 518,215 responses by the Costa Rican Red Cross, actions that took place in the care of accidents due to multiple causes. The institution highlighted that the current health emergency has generated the need to duplicate efforts for the benefit of the Costa Rican population, including carrying out 13,844 transfers of suspected and / or confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“2020 ended with a considerable number of emergency care, it is about thousands of responses to calls for help where the Red Cross has provided help. What we can show is that the scope of institutional actions has made it possible to reach a large number of people throughout the country. It is a very successful job thanks to the support of each volunteer and permanent collaborator of the Costa Rican Red Cross. This year the institution has worked hard in the first line of attention to the current health emergency”, explained Jim Batres, Director of Risk Management and Emergency Attention of the Costa Rican Red Cross.
In addition, the Costa Rican Red Cross, through an agreement with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), has strengthened its operational prevention and rescue actions in the main visitation beaches, including Manzanillo, Ventanas, Cocles, Tamarindo, Bahía Ballena Marine Park and Manuel Antonio.
With the installation of Red Cross lifeguard posts on these beaches 46,236 bathers have been protected, 184 effective rescues, and 204 notices of restrictions on beaches according to the provisions of the health authorities in the face of the Pandemic.
Responsible behavior
“We are interested in remembering now that the holiday period continues the need to make responsible visitation of the places where we decide to attend, it is important to maintain an adequate behavior when entering the water immediately after having ingested food, substances that can alter our state of conscience, not neglect the children, not even the elderly;
On the other hand, this 2020 ends with 136 responses to mountains rescues and 4 air emergencies in mountainous areas, that is why we recommend if you are going to make hikes into the mountains, leave a message with someone, what the point of entry will be, the point of departure, what the possible route to follow, number of people who are going to enter, possible departure time, if someone suffers from any disease, remember to bring extra food, some type of coat, flashlights, in case encountering some delay and/or arriving at night inside the mountain,” Batres said.
Health issues transfers
Another of the data recorded by the Red Cross has to do with the number of transfers of people in delicate condition to clinics and hospital centers. In 2020, 6,560 patients were transferred in delicate condition to hospitals and 1,158 violent deaths were registered, most of them related to road accidents, 96 violent deaths due to aquatic accidents are also evidenced in institutional statistics, institutional vehicles traveled a total of 19,833,780 kilometers in pre-hospital care actions and rescues carried out during the year.
