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Officers from the El Salvador national police practice putting a tourniquet on a colleague’s arm. Each of the 325 officers who attended the training practiced on both arms and legs and learned such things as tactics to safely take away knives or guns.

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Mark Werts drew upon his long history as a paramedic and a police officer while serving on a mission trip to El Salvador, where he helped train officers from the national police and the Santa Ana municipal police.

Sgt. Werts delivers training, supplies

Gang activity, poverty don’t dissuade officer from traveling to El Salvador

    There was a stark contrast between the life Sgt. Mark Werts is accustomed to in the United States where he works for the Holyoke Police Department and the conditions he experienced while on a mission trip to train and witness to police officers in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
    Werts joined an organization called Mission Mobilization International, that has a goal to reach the authorities for Christ, for the week-long trip June 3-10. While there, he was responsible for medical care for his team of three, as well as teaching officer self-care tactics to the Salvadoran police. With experience as a paramedic since 1985 and a police officer since 1996, he was uniquely qualified for the role.
    One major aspect of Werts’ involvement was the distribution of tourniquets to police there. In many states, including Colorado, he explained, there has been a recent push to have officers equipped with tourniquets because they have saved lives. Werts has been to Nebraska twice to lead trainings on their use.
    Especially in a country like El Salvador that has a huge problem with gang violence, police need to have tools at their disposal to help save lives.
    Werts set a goal to raise enough money to take 50 tourniquets on his mission trip. He began fundraising through Holyoke’s First Baptist Church, where he is a member. The church already regularly supports Randy Green, the founder of Mission Mobilization International and Peace Officers International. In fact, it was through the church that Werts first learned about Peace Officers International, and he has been involved with the ministry in Westminster since last year.
    Suffice it to say, support from Werts’ church family went beyond what he had hoped for. He had agreed to go on the trip without having funds organized, trusting that “If I’m meant to go, it will happen.” By the church’s contributions, as well as some from a few other churches and private donors, he raised enough money to purchase 162 tourniquets.
    With tourniquets purchased, Werts secured a donation of general medical supplies from Global Samaritan Resource in Abilene, Texas. Still lacking enough supplies such as gauze, tape and gloves to prepare complete kits for the officers, Holyoke’s Melissa Memorial Hospital and EMS stepped up to fill in the gap with additional donations.
    In all, Werts ended up with $6,000 worth of medical supplies to deliver. On the trip, he taught local officers how to use the tourniquets. “As far as I know, none of them had seen a professional tourniquet like that before,” he said. Coming from a country where most police officers at least have first aid and CPR training, it was a shock for the American police to see how little training their Salvadoran counterparts received.
    Police officers there were enthusiastic to learn and practice the techniques because they were new to them, Werts said. They also learned strategies to safely take away guns, knives and machetes, as well as practicing handcuffing, pat-downs, escort holds and take-downs.
    Many officers there have had experiences that make them especially appreciative of the additional training and tools they received. Werts met people who had been stabbed and who have lost colleagues to gunshot wounds.
    Every person in training practiced using tourniquets for active bleeding on both arms and legs, and they reviewed what to do in case of open chest wounds. Although their mission could only distribute so many supplies, they aimed to educate others, enabling them to use what they do have at their disposal.
    For example, Werts taught them that a make-shift tourniquet can be made using a T-shirt and a police baton. Similarly, if someone has a sucking chest wound, any plastic that can be found to seal the wound may buy them enough time to get to a hospital. Such skills should save lives, Werts said, and that was his goal.
    Heavy emphasis was placed on ethics and morals, as well. Pain compliance and pressure point control tactics are taught and can be crucial to maintaining safety and control, but Werts and his team stressed that once a perpetrator complies, force should be lessened. They spoke, also, about the role police play in community.
    In the area they served, there is not a good relationship between police and civilians. Between gang activity and corruption, there is distrust on both ends.
    Werts recalled a typical Sunday in Holyoke as comparison. He usually goes to church in uniform, and kids are excited to see him, giving high-fives and starting conversations. In El Salvador, on the other hand, the children were afraid of the police.
    Since the training was held at a local church, La Puerta Abierta, some of the tensions were assuaged. The church, Werts explained, is located right between two opposing gangs: Calle 18 and MS-13. The church is considered neutral territory, and trucks that have the church logo are not bothered by the gangs.
    The church’s relationship with local families also helped put them at ease when the influx of police officers came in for training. It helped build up community in that area, Werts said. “It’s a small step — a very small step — but it’s a step forward.”
    In addition to providing police training, the mission team shared the gospel with those in attendance. La Puerta Abierta gave each of the 325 officers a Bible, and the team provided opportunities for prayer. Over one-third of them came forward, seeking a relationship with Christ. “I truly believe God was with us, to have 131 come forward,” Werts said.
    This is not the first Mission Mobilization International trip to El Salvador. They have trained national police officers in the capital in the past, but this is the first time national police and municipal police have trained together. It was such a success that the Salvadoran police already want them to come back to do another training. As for Werts, he said, “It was an incredible experience, and if I’m asked to go back again, I will.”
    Although he doesn’t have concrete plans to return yet, he left behind some supplies to continue making a difference. In addition to 162 tourniquet kits he distributed for police officers, Werts left behind his team’s medical supplies for the church to use in a clinic they are in the process of opening.
  

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