Vientiane Rescue Team

Great initiative, you went a long way since I met you Sebastien, I hope you'll continue that way as Lao roads definitely need people like you guys! Continue your good work, I really hope your efforts will inspire donors to make a better use of foreign aid. Lâche rien, Rémi.

Hello Sebastien, Can I start by saying congratulations to you and your team the work you have done on such an important service, in fact the service is often taken for granted in countries like Australia. My name is Peter McGreal, I am the owner of a Health & Safety Training business that specializes in First Aid training and supplies. I would like to get involved in supporting your team. There is a few ways that I can provide this support including funding. Please let me know if you are interested in taking this further. Yours- Peter McGreal Immediate Response Health & Safety Training www.firstaidcourseonline.com.au

Our story started a few years ago, with ups and downs. A few volunteers, following examples from Thailand paramedics fondations, decided to launch an emergency response ambulance on the roads in Vientiane. At the top of our activities in 2011, we used to run a 24 hours 7 days/week service, supported by a strong committed team of 34 volunteers. We got almost nothing but a beautiful brand new ambulance. Then we lost the car the 28th of January 2012. So many people end up dying on the roads since, for lack of assistance. Our emergency phone number was still ringing, but we couldn’t reply. So we started to look for sponsors, able to help us to buy a new car. We though that our extraordinary free emergency support to the population, in a country where nothing’s free, would have generate a bubble of generosity in Vientiane, and funds coming from everywhere. We were right…nothing is free in this country. There are hundreds of NGO’s for more than 20 years in Laos, and hundreds of people dying on the roads every year in Vientiane, but nobody was interested to fund our project. I personnally witness 2 million euros water sanitation crappy project waste for 50% in salaries, when we were desperately looking for 10,000 USD to save hundreds of live, without per diem, without salaries. And little by little, as time passed, our volunteers began to desert. Finally, after a whole year of research, we got 2 answers: Exo Foundation and a private bank in Vientiane. Exo Foundation gave us 6000 USD, and the bank promised to give us 4000 USD. That was enough. Enough to buy a second hand car, that we planed to transform into an ambulance. Our dream of getting a brand new fully equipped ambulance had vanished already, but we were still motivated as the first day. We finally found a 4,000 USD car, but when we asked the bank to keep its promise, they finally gave us only 2,000 USD. 10,000 USD to get and transform a car into an ambulance was already very short. But 8,000 USD….that looked just impossible. But our project was right, so we kept on going. We finally started to transform the car, and got little sponsors for the paint, for the stickers, for the electrical system, for emergency lights and so on. We manage to change the engine (1,000,000 km) for a more powerful and healthy one, to the little garage of one of our volunteers, for almost nothing. We got everything for almost nothing. Little by little, our cart started to look like a car, then to look like a real ambulance. Today, after 4 months of hard work, we finally managed to get almost everything: a stretcher, oxygen, 2 fully equipped first aid kits including one given by the French Red Cross who gave it to us instead of giving it to the Lao Red Cross, and almost everything to manage fractures. The car is beautiful, and if it it smokes black, we are back on the tracks! We still have needs, but today I can say that this car is 80% equipped to face the most common road accidents. We have new projects, new ideas, especially on hydraulic rescue equipment since we are facing more and more snared victims in their cars, but for the moment, we have the essential. 3 months ago, one of our volunteers got involved in a very serious accident.. A car came upon his leg, and he’s going to limp for the rest of his life. Today he’s back on duty while I’m writing these few lines. He’s still willing to give his time to help the others. Instead of trying to get another job and get more money, he’s still with us, on duty, getting nothing in return. If he had had enough money to get to a good hospital 3 months ago, he may have saved a part of his leg. But almost all Vientiane Rescue’s volunteers get very low salaries. So none of them has health insurance. That’s my next project. To help those aiders. Thanks for your support, thanks for your humanity. Sebastien and all the 21 Lao volunteers of Vientiane Rescue.