The certifications were awarded by Summit Adventure, which has international recognition for emergency care in wilderness areas.
Torres del Paine, October 5, 2023: Emergency response in remote locations is crucial among the various protocols at Torres del Paine National Park. A prompt and timely response can make a difference in various accidents. As part of this preparation, twenty-two people from the Las Torres Patagonia team and the AMA Torres del Paine NGO have successfully completed their Wilderness First Responder (WFR) accreditation course, an internationally recognized certification.
The course focuses on search and rescue in wilderness areas, considering the respective evacuation of injured people or those who need to be transported out of the park for other reasons. It was conducted by the company, Summit Adventure Chile.
During this eight-day course, a nighttime practice was conducted within the national park, involving the director of AMA Torres del Paine, John Ojeda, along with the NGO’s park rangers and risk prevention personnel. They were able to develop flowcharts for first response and evacuation, both for staff and passengers.
“Everyone finishes happy. It’s a tremendous benefit for them provided by the company. It serves them while working within and outside the company,” comments Freddy Moreira, the general manager of Summit Adventure. He adds, “We’ve had students from Las Torres Patagonia who, later due to work reasons, go to work in Canada or Spain, and this certification also serves them there.”
This certification is valid for two years, after which, upon completion, individuals must undergo an accreditation renewal due to the variations that arise from a clinical perspective in care.
“One of the characteristics of rescue in wilderness areas is that many times you don’t have the appropriate equipment, and everything ends up being more complex in remote locations, such as stabilizing the temperature in victims or treating bleeding, and without the necessary tools, you have to improvise,” explains Moreira. He notes that the course also includes protocols for searching for people and providing a first response in such situations.
“We appreciate the work of Summit Adventure in training our staff. Thanks to the WFR training and certification, we now have an even more prepared team to face extraordinary situations,” says Ojeda, who is also the Conservation, Sustainability, and Security Manager at Las Torres Patagonia. He adds in the same vein, “Last year we certified twenty-two people from the reserve, and today, twenty-two more joins, bringing us to a total of over sixty workers from various units with valid WFR certifications. This certification process is managed annually through the People and Culture Management Team and is a testimony to the excellent work done by our team in seeking greater preparedness in Torres del Paine.”
The certification provides first response knowledge to address various emergencies, making the group an essential team for work in Torres del Paine National Park.
