An emergency situation can occur at any time and place. Do you know how to help a person who has suffered a fall, a cut or a burn while health teams arrive? How to assist a victim of a stray bullet or knife attack?
One of the most common accidents is falls. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website, they are a major public health problem worldwide. Annually, more than 37 million falls occur, the severity of which requires medical attention.
Emergencies arising from activities involving some type of violence are also present in the environment.In view of this, the training of the population in Tactical Medicine becomes essential, as it contributes to develop methods and skills to assist the victims of an accident or emergency while the emergency services go to the site.
What is it about?
Under this premise, the Universidad Libre de Costa Rica (ULICORI) will offer three free courses on Tactical Medicine, oriented to help first responders in an emergency to efficiently help minimize the damage or impact on victims.
At its headquarters in Barrio La California in San José, the University will offer the following courses: Immobilization and Mobilization of the Wounded on July 27 and 28; Circulation and Hemorrhage Control on August 10 and 11; and First Aid in Hostile Environments on August 24 and 25. Each course will be theoretical-practical, with a face-to-face modality and a duration of 10 hours.
First responders are usually people who, without being health professionals, fulfill roles that make them arrive first to the place of the accident, as is the case of police officers, security officers and firefighters, among others. But other citizens who, at the time of the event, are nearby can also be responders.
“In order for responders to best help those who are injured, it is vital that they have the necessary knowledge and techniques. Our Tactical Medicine trainings have been designed so that anyone can react in the most positive, efficient and safe way in hostile environments or emergency situations created either by humans or natural disasters,” says Andrés Muñoz, professor at the Universidad Libre de Costa Rica.
To request information on schedules and prices of these courses, interested parties may contact WhatsApp 2528 – 8300 or write to [email protected]
What will they learn?
In the first course, participants will learn techniques to immobilize the spine or limbs of a person in case of fractures, dislocations and other types of trauma, as well as how to perform emergency transportation of a patient. In the second, they will learn to identify bleeding and bleeding risks, to place tourniquets, gauze and other bleeding control devices and to perform compressive bandages to reduce inflammation.
In the last course, people will be trained in basic first aid procedures, from bleeding control, immobilization techniques for fractured limbs and bandaging, to basic burn management, foreign body management and nosebleeds, among other aspects.
“In the design of these training courses we have the support of the Costa Rican Association of Tactical Medicine (ACMT), an organization composed of health professionals specialized in emergency medicine. Although the topics of the courses are intertwined, they have been formulated so that they can be taken independently, so each person can decide how many modules he or she wishes to take,” adds Muñoz.
Agents of change
To promote social change through education and develop a higher education center that is very accessible to everyone, the Universidad Libre de Costa Rica was founded in 1993.
With a deep social, teaching, health and development vocation, the couple composed of two visionary former professors, Carlos Paniagua Vargas and Rosa Marta Jacob, laid the foundations of ULICORI, an educational center that today has branches in San José, Limón, Santa Cruz and Pérez Zeledón and whose platform with virtual methodologies provides coverage throughout the country.
Its current director, Carlos Antonio Paniagua Jacob, continues with the legacy and objectives of the founders, creating opportunities for more and more graduates seeking to transform the country from professions such as Criminology, Social Work, Administration, Education and Medical Records.
