Training First-Responders in Nepal

Nepal, and in particular the Kathmandu Valley, is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters like earthquakes, flooding, and landslides. As we experienced first hand during  the devastating 2015 earthquake, the population is unprepared for such a crises, and very few people have the necessary skills and knowledge to help the injured and dying.

Karuna-Shechen is training members of the local population so that they can take charge and save lives in emergencies.

Police Officers with their first-aid kits.

Police officers are often the first to arrive when an emergency occurs. Unfortunately, in Nepal, most of them have never received any formal first-aid training. Thanks to Karuna-Shechen this is about to change.

Last Fall we organized an advanced first responders training for 120 community police officers, including 39 women. They were trained in the skills needed to save lives and efficiently transfer victims to nearby health facilities. Every officer trained by us also received a free first-aid kit.

Our Medical Emergency Response Program was first initiated in 2013. The monks and laypeople we trained that year were crucial in providing immediate help right after the tragic 2015 earthquakes. They were able to apply their training in first-aid and organizational skills to bring relief to many communities in the Kathmandu Valley.

More trainings will be conducted throughout the years. Our objective is to progressively create a nation-wide network of volunteers who can dispense on–the-spot immediate medical care to people in isolated villages in  rural Nepal.

The people who we have trained in this program include trekking guides, social workers, monks, students, health workers and police officers.