Are you hoping to become, or are training to become an emergency ambulance technician or paramedic? Are you looking for experience in trauma care overseas? We have projects in Mexico that give you the unique opportunity to work with emergency medics.
In Mexico, emergency ambulance provision is provided by the international NGO The Red Cross, The Green Cross, it’s state funded counterpart and the Fire Service. You can work with these organisations in Guadalajara, Leon Guanajuato, Tepatitlan and Puerto Vallarta.
Guadalajara
Guadalajara is Mexico’s second largest city and as a busy city, there are more emergency calls. The staff at the clinic and the paramedics on the ambulances take emergency calls throughout the day and into the evenings.
As busy, cosmopolitan cities and towns, emergency calls can vary from road traffic accidents, through to drug overdoses or even stabbings and shootings. This means that whether you are working in the clinic or out on the ambulance, you will gain experience in a wide range of trauma cases.
Those with prior experience and those training to become paramedics, can accompany the paramedics on the ambulances on emergency calls after an initial week long induction working with the staff at the emergency clinic. This gives you a week to develop your Spanish and get used to local working practices before accompanying the paramedics on call.
The Red Cross in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a tourist resort on the beautiful Pacific Coast of Mexico. As a popular tourist area, the paramedics are usually busier in the evenings and at weekends. Therefore, those working on this placement often elect to work at these times when the emergency clinic and the ambulances are busier. This leaves you the morning to hang out on the beach, go surfing or diving!
Here you’ll be working as a volunteer on the ambulances alongside paramedics and in the emergency clinic. All of the staff working in the clinic and on the ambulances are volunteers so the camaraderie is high.
No prior experience is required to accompany the paramedics on ambulances in Puerto Vallarta but you will start your first week with an introduction to first aid with the resident volunteer paramedics and also by working in the emergency clinic. The induction will introduce you to the basics such as dressing wounds, before teaching you more advanced skills such as CPR, inserting cannulas and safely extracting casualties from emergency situations to the ambulance. Only on successful completion of this induction will you be permitted to accompany the paramedics on call.
Optional rural outreach programme: The Huichol Project
We also have opportunities to spend part of your time delivering medical care in rural communities caring for the indigenous Huichol. The Huichol community predate the Spanish conquistadors and are located in isolated communities high in the Sierra Madre Mountains. On this project, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the community doctor as well as learn more about traditional indigenous medical practices. This placement is very different to life in the cities or even towns. You will live amongst the Huichol community in the mountains in very basic living conditions. Part of this additional programme includes learning Wixarika, the dialect spoken by the Huichol.
Costs:
Cost in £
| 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 weeks | 6 weeks |
| £1,395 | £1,595 | £1,795 | £1,995 | £2,195 |
Cost in Euros
| 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 weeks | 6 weeks |
| 1,695€ | 1,915€ | 2,195€ | 2,395€ | 2,640€ |
Cost in US $
| 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 weeks | 6 weeks |
| $1,695 | $1,915 | $2,195 | $2,395 | $2,695 |
Cost in Auz $
| 2 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Au$2,595 | Au$2,895 | Au$3,295 | Au$3,595 | Au$3,995 |
Cost in £
| Extra weeks | Extra months | Language course | Orphanage project | Huichol Project |
| £250 | £995 | £100 (per week) | £200 | £495 |
Cost in Euros
| Extra weeks | Extra months | Language course | Orphanage project | Huichol project |
| 300€ | 1,195€ | 135€ (per week) | 135€ | 395€ |
Cost in US $
| Extra weeks | Extra months | Language course | Orphanage project | Huichol project |
| $360 | $1,445 | $160 (per week) | $240 | $595 |
Cost in Auz $
| Extra weeks | Extra months | Language course | Orphanage project | Huichol project |
| Au$450 | Au$1,790 | Au$200 | Au$360 | Au$890 |
Other Destination Information
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The main base of our projects in Mexico is Guadalajara but we also operate projects in satellite locations in Puerto Vallarta. The accommodation depends on where you are based but it is either with local families or in group, hostel type, accommodation. We have home stay accommodation at our main base in Guadalajara and group accommodation in Puerto Vallarta. You will share this accommodation with others on our medical, media and volunteer projects.
The standard of the accommodation will be basic but good by local standards. It won’t be quite what you are used to at home so please don’t expect all mod cons, but it will be clean and tidy. Accommodation usually has hot and cold running water and electricity, but both occasionally fail so cold showers may take some getting used to! Hot water for showers is not always important for local people used to hot climates and cold showers can be quite refreshing after a hot day at work.
We will place you with other volunteers, which means that you are never far away from someone to socialise with in the evenings. All our project locations are within easy travelling distance, so volunteers from all the projects usually get together at a central meeting point to go travelling at weekends or just chill out by the beach.
Our staff will be on hand during office hours if you have any general queries and only a phone call away outside office hours if there’s something much more urgent.
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Highlights – Guadalajara
Guadalajara is in the state of Jalisco, and home to Mariachi, The Mexican Sombrero and Tequila!
The town of Tequila is a popular weekend trip. Visit the factories and farms to see how the drink is made and maybe even try a drop – the good stuff is a lot smoother than the fire water you may have tried before!
Mexico sits on one of the most active fault lines in the world and the Jalisco countryside is dotted with volcanic domes. The more adventurous amongst you can trek the dormant volcano at Paricutin or the active and still smooking volcano at Colima!
Climate
Guadalajara usually experiences 322 days of sunshine a year and average temperatures between 68F (20C) and 85F (30C). Sometimes in the morning the humidity can make things a little uncomfortable, but this almost always eases off by the middle of the day. Rainfall is heavier in June and October, often, in these months, falling for one or two hours in the afternoon.
Money matters
You will have weekends free to travel and visit the sights so do take some spending money for food, accommodation and souvenirs.
Exactly how much to take is a matter of great debate but most who have travelled to Mexico recommend that you could probably get by allowing £75-£100 per weekend spending money. If you can, take a little extra just in case to allow for emergencies or those ‘must have’ souvenirs.
You cannot get Mexican currency outside of Mexico so it’s best to take your spending money as pre-loaded travel cards or cash. Credit and debit cards are also widely accepted in Mexico. You can usually draw money out on credit and debit cards from most ATM machines at banks in Mexico. This is probably the easiest way to access your spending money but shouldn’t be relied upon and bank charges for this can be high.
You can take cash as sterling, Euros or US dollars. All are easy to change in Mexico.
Arrival Information
You should arrange your flights to arrive at Guadalajara International Airport (GDL). A number of international carriers fly to Guadalajara, including Continental, American Airlines and Alaskan Airways. During the summer it’s also possible to find cheap deals from some UK airports direct to Guadalajara.
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Country Director – Ariel Duenas
Ariel Duenas is one of the most experienced overseas managers at Global Medical Projects. He has been arranging overseas placements in Mexico for over ten years.
A keen conservationist, Ariel was instrumental in setting up our turtle projects on the Pacific coast of Mexico and often visits the turtle camp with his family and faithful dog to help out at weekends, the ideal weekend getaway for those on our medical projects.
Ariel is passionate about Mexico and deeply committed to ensuring everyone who joins us in Mexico thoroughly enjoys the experience.
During his ten years arranging projects in Mexico, Ariel has built up and extensive network on contacts throughout Mexico which has enabled us to offer such unique and demanding programmes.
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Photos from our projects in Mexico (on Facebook, opens in new tab)
Our Costs Include:
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Accommodation on your project will be with either local families or in group accommodation. You exact accommodation depends on the number of volunteers and your project.
All accommodation is checked by our overseas staff and host families vetted. If you don’t feel comfortable in your accommodation, do please let us know as soon as possible and our overseas staff will do their best to make you more comfortable.
However, please keep in mind that you will be living in lesser economically developed countries so please don’t expect the same standards as home. Access to running water, electricity and other things that we take for granted WILL be limited but we’ll do our best to make sure you have the best that’s possible.
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Our UK team is on hand to answer any questions that may pop up before you go. Please don’t hesitate to call or email to chat about anything that may be concerning you. You should especially not worry about asking any questions you may consider that we’ll think is stupid. The chances are that we probably asked exactly the same questions before we headed off on our travels!
You will receive pre-departure information that will tell you more about your accommodation and placement. This will arrive about 4 weeks before you depart. We can’t send you this immediately as exactly where you stay depends on the numbers that join us. However, by 4 weeks before you depart we will have a good idea of how many people are joining us and we’ll finalise the details of your accommodation.
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Arriving in a new country for the first time can be quite daunting so our overseas team will be there to meet you with a big sign and even bigger welcome!
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We think that it’s important to give you a thorough introduction to your new home for the next few months therefore, our overseas team will give you an induction and orientation covering everything you need to know from basic customs to where to change money.
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Our overseas team are not just there to meet you at the airport. They’re also not there to molly cuddle you either. Our overseas team is on hand during office hours to do anything they can to help you get the most out of your experience. You will also be given out of office contact details to be used in the event of emergencies, so please rest assured that in the unlikely event that anything goes wrong, our overseas team will be there to help in whatever way they can.
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We have worked carefully to develop links with medical staff at hospitals and clinics in all our partner countries. It takes time for our overseas teams to develop and maintain these links so that we can continue to offer you the best medical experience possible.
We think it’s fair that the hospital should receive something in return for supporting you and Global Medical Projects so part of the project cost includes a donation to your host hospital.
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During your time with us we will make sure that your food is provided. Please note that sometimes this will be provided by your host family and sometimes by your host organisation. Where this is the case it is extremely likely that this food will be local food. Most of the time this will not quite be what we’re used to and can take some time to get used to. Rest assured it will be hygienically prepared and nutritious but it will be difficult for them to prepare foods which you are used to at home.
We’re sure that for most of you, eating the local food is part of the experience. If you don’t like the food, we urge you to try to persevere. Ultimately, if you are just not enjoying the experience we will do our best to make alternative arrangements. Please keep in mind however, that the availability of western foods maybe extremely limited and/or expensive so it may not always be possible to change things that much!
Most people elect to go travelling at weekends, so food isn’t always available at this time, particularly in those locations where we have our own accommodation as we often give the cooks the weekend off.
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Not Included:
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We’re not a travel company, and as such we do not arrange flights. However, we can help you to make the necessary arrangements and suggest people to speak to.
Additionally, many people join us as part of a world trip so it’s often easier for you to arrange your travel as part of a round the world ticket.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like help arranging your flights.
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As many people join us as part of a world trip, we do not include insurance as part of the projects. However, we are happy to introduce good companies that can provide you with excellent and affordable cover.
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You will need additional spending money for travel to work, weekend excursions and gifts. Exactly how much to take is a matter of great debate but contact us and we’ll be happy to give you a rough guideline on how much you will need.
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Many of the destinations require you to purchase a visa. We can arrange the visas for you but this will be an additional cost of up to £100.
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Most of our countries will require you to be inoculated against diseases that have been eradicated at home. We can advise on which inoculations you will need but will encourage you to visit your doctor or a local travel clinic where they will discuss the best vaccinations for you.
Some of these vaccinations will incur costs so budget accordingly.
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We’re happy to provide food when you are on a projects with us or staying in our accommodation but when travelling you will need to buy your own food. In most countries good local food is incredibly cheap. Western food is a luxury and is priced accordingly!
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