Dominican Republic
Rescate Ambar, Dominican Republic
With 42 road deaths for every 100,000 inhabitants, the Dominican Republic has one of the highest rates of vehicle-related deaths in the world. Providing fast and effective first response is critical to saving more lives.
In 2017, Firefighters Without Borders (FWB) partnered with Rescate Ambar, a volunteer-based paramedical organization that receives no financial government support.
To help Rescate Ambar continue to provide these critical services to its citizens, FWB delivered a five-day comprehensive vehicle extrication and patient care training course. FWB also donated much-needed emergency equipment, including helmets, medical masks, extrication equipment, cervical collars, and medical bags.
Rescate, a documentary
The Rescate Ambar is a group of volunteer paramedics who work without any government assistance to help save lives in the Dominican Republic. In the absence of a proper local ambulance service, they have cobbled together donated equipment to operate 24-hours a day. They sleep on small mattresses in shared rooms—while still juggling jobs and families—and their main ambulance is an old catering van.
After witnessing the life-saving work of the Rescate Ambar, Mark Bone, a Canadian filmmaker, produced a short, powerful documentary, Rescate.