Battle of Solferino Remembered

This post is also available in: Spanish

Curso 24062011

EMS COURSE ENDS ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WAR FIRST RESPONDER

Twenty Comandos de Salvamento members received diplomas and certificates of approval after having finished a Pre-Hospital Care training course  at the Central Base EMS school. The course teaches volunteers patient stabilization and first aid to those involved in traumatic emergencies.

June 24th is also celebrated in many countries as International Rescuer Day. It commemorates the battle of Solferino of June 24th 1859,  in which horrified witness Jean Henry Dunant saw all wounded soldiers being either shot or bayoneted on the battlefield.  This led to the creation of the mandated Geneva Conventions and the formation of the International Red Cross. The day salutes medical personnel who attend to the wounded in warzones.

Clearing the dead at Solferino. (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna)
Clearing the dead at Solferino. (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna)

Comandos de Salvamento has twelve years of offering aid to those on the battlefield during the Salvadoran Civil war and continues to attend to “gang zone” wounded throughout San Salvador.  The site deperlasyranas.com (spanish only) remembers this day with emphasis on the Battle of Solferino and Dunant’s inspired book “Memory of Solferino” which says: States must prepare not only for combat but also for the assistance of war victims. It also points out fundamental themes to create voluntary first aid groups which practice EMS care in times of peace and war.

Comandos de Salvamento is mandated by it’s charter to save the lives of people due to consequences of mother nature or of man, regardless of race, religion, or political creed.

Curso 24062011 2

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