By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, along with Public Safety (DSP by its Spanish initials) Secretary Alexis Torres Ríos and 9-1-1 Emergency Systems Bureau (NSE) Commissioner Manuel González Azcuy, presented on Tuesday the educational campaign “Dale Paso a la Vida” as an effort to improve the safety and effectiveness of emergency responses in Puerto Rico.
“This is an extremely important initiative because it involves saving lives,” the governor said at a press conference. “The need to carry out this campaign arises from the concerns and needs of our paramedics who are on the street every day facing obstacles, particularly during peak traffic hours. My administration is fully committed to continuing to reduce the response time to emergencies and we will not cease our efforts to achieve this.”.
The initiative seeks to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of making way for emergency vehicles, especially ambulances, thus ensuring quick and safe mobilization to hospitals or emergency scenes. Likewise, the governor announced a salary adjustment in the compensation scale for 9-1-1 telecommunicators. The adjustment is in response to the need to improve the recruitment and retention of these essential professionals, ensuring that they can continue their vital work under the best possible conditions.
The DSP secretary said that “for the Department of Public Safety, this educational campaign is of utmost importance to raise awareness among the people of how important it is to make way for the first responders who save lives every day.”
“I urge everyone, whenever you see an ambulance, to clear the way immediately; one minute can make the difference in saving a life,” Torres Ríos said.
The NSE-911 commissioner stated that “safety and efficiency in emergency responses are fundamental in protecting the lives of our people.”
“With the ‘Dale Paso a la Vida’ campaign, we aspire to create collective awareness about the importance of acting promptly and responsibly on the roads, allowing our emergency teams to carry out their work without impediments,” González Azcuy said.
Medical Emergency Corps Bureau (NCEM) Commissioner Javier Rodríguez Castillo stressed the importance of the campaign, so necessary to help raise awareness among citizens so that they can clear the way for ambulances and first response vehicles.
“Minutes count when it comes to saving a life. Every second is valuable,” he said. “Our dispatchers and paramedics do everything possible to quickly respond to an emergency situation, but we have seen how on many occasions, the delay is due to someone not taking the sound of the siren and the [emergency vehicle’s flashing] lights seriously. One minute can make the difference between life and death.”
The educational campaign will be disseminated through all media, including press, radio and television, as well as social networks, to reach all people and emphasize the importance of making way for the island’s first responders.
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