For several years, the remote village of Quepos to do on the coast of Costa Rica Central Pacific an alarming rate of drownings lose around 200 lives per year. Last June, Ocean Rescue, Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International Quepos, to reduce on a mission to drown in the region.

Thanks to private funding donated airline tickets and room and board, three employees of Fort Lauderdale went to Quepos to know-how and leadership qualities necessary to create a rescue from the sea.

“We needed a program that could immediately set to work design, using existing resources,” said Giovanni Fort Lauderdale lifeguard Serrano-Sanchez. “The situation was urgent.”

Rescuers Fort Lauderdale has quickly a positive relationship with local authorities and businesses built along the beach. After assessing the situation and develop a plan, four days of the rescuers do their job.

The rescue mission up workshops. local fire, police, coast guard, a restaurant and hotel employees have been trained to carry out rescue techniques and basic CPR.

Meeting with municipal officials in a commitment to hire four full-time lifeguards led. Local businesses were confident at the beach to make way for lifeguards and equipment has to offer.

Before the mission trip Quepos rescuers were 20 minutes from the beach. After consultation with the boards Fort Lauderdale, the local Red Cross has decided to keep an ambulance at the beach.

There was no drowning in the region since the training sessions by Serrano-Sanchez and colleagues Richie Rivera and Carmello Colon. But they say their work is not finished.

“Our Savior Sister-City are urgently rescue equipment,” said Sanchez-Serrano. “You have only two buoys and nothing else.”

Serrano-Sanchez asked residents of South Florida and companies to donate used equipment to Quepos rescue. “Please clean your garage,” he jokes. Serrano-Sanchez has made arrangements with a company in Costa Rica to pay for the transport of rescue equipment from Fort Lauderdale to Quepos.

You can donate to Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue will be deleted, 501 Seabreeze Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale. For more information, call 954/828-4595.

Donation Wishlist

Sun screen

Binoculars

Surf Fins

Umbrellas

Lifebuoys

Rescue Boards

First Aid Kits

CPR Masks

Books of CPR training in Spanish

Office space in Fort Lauderdale