MEXICO EMERGENCY MEDICAL EVACUATION REPORTS

June 3, 2004, Celia Diaz, BEMCC Mexico Medical Evacuations, Baja California, Mexico:

TIJUANA-ENSENADA TOLL ROAD: We have been very busy with our daily calls for assistance. A couple of weeks ago, we received a call from a man who said that he was paraplegic. He said he was in Tijuana near the toll road. He had a flat tire and needed help. I asked him who gave him our number. He said he had AAA and they gave him our number to call us for assistance. We don't provide that service, but I told him I would send him some help. I called one of our paramedics and gave him the location. Within 30 minutes, our volunteer arrived and the man was on his way to Ensenada. I asked him to send us a thank you letter and I mailed him a couple of BEMCC Life Saver Card membership applications.

TIJUANA: Another case was a young man who called our office and said he was a flight attendant for a private Mexico travel group. He said that he and his friend were driving back to San Diego from the Tijuana airport. While they were waiting to cross the border, he saw a Mexican officer relieving himself behind some bushes. He decided that he could not wait and he also went behind the bushes to relieve himself. He was immediately arrested by a Mexican police officer and taken to jail.

His friend called our office as soon as he crossed the border and asked for our assistance to get his friend out of jail. I told him to call the American Consulate and gave him the 24 hour number; they take care of these cases. I also asked him to call me back to let me know if he was taken care of by the U.S. Consulate. I asked him if he was a BEMCC member, he said no, but the owner of the company said that he was thinking about becoming a member and gave him our number to call for this emergency.

He called me back within an hour, and said he had not received a response from the Consulate. At this point, I called the Tijuana Police Department and asked to speak with Captain Sanchez Ozorio. He has been an active member of BEMCC since 1978 and participates in all our events. Within an hour, I got a call from the man’s boss. He said he was very impressed when his employee called him to let him know that the Chief of Police had released him and gave him a ride to the border. I sent his boss a package with membership applications for the Life Saver Card.

TIJUANA: A child visiting from Los Angeles fell from the second floor balcony of a Tijuana hotel. She was in critical condition, the doctor from the Tijuana Red Cross called us and we immediately transported the child to children's hospital.

TIJUANA: Two trauma patients from Tijuana had been involved in car accidents. The Tijuana doctors called us to evacuate the patients once they had been stabilized enough for the transport.

Binational Emergency Medical Care Committee (BEMCC), Chula Vista, tax-deductible memberships, $35 per year, 619-425-5080.