First Aid
Always on duty: the MgM ambulance
Medical first aid and more
No mine clearance task takes place without the presence of an emergency medical team. These men are present at every mine clearance mission in close proximity to the operation and in readiness – as required by the strict MgM safety guidelines.
The medics also give medical emergency assistance to the population when they can. Assistance is commonly needed by people returning from refugee camps to land we have opened up. Also, the MgM medics are often the first medical staff the people remaining in the mine infested areas have seen for years. To cater to these needs, many kinds of vaccination are carried in our ambulances, along with birthing aids and general injury supports.
Like all MgM vehicles, our ambulances are equipped with radio and satellite phones so that they can always be reached and ready for emergencies.
JUH emergency workers are well received in every village.
Support from Johanniter Unfallhilfe
During one MgM mine clearance operation the flow of patients seeking help from our medics reached up to 400 people a day. This was when the Johanniter Unfallhilfe (JUH) organisation came to our rescue with personnel and medication given in a non bureaucratic and efficient way. Since then JUH has become MgM’s regular field partner on all medical matters.
The work of the JUH does not in any way seek to establish parallel structures to the national health system. It is all temporary and emergency in nature, and very much essential.
Apart from purely humanitarian considerations, the medical contact with the needy population establishes trust and communication – and that provides an important source of information about areas suspected of being mined.