SA Higinio Mendoza, SA Erick Hyer, SA Philip Keys, and SA Kevin Liles, all stationed in Sells, Ariz., witnessed a rollover accident near Nogales. They provided aid to the driver until Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrived on the scene. DPS officials confirmed that the aid provided by the Customs agents contributed to the driver's survival. The agents had completed First Responder Training a month earlier.

Special Agents Timothy Westlove and John Kelly were in the city of Lewisville when they witnessed the aftermath of an accident. A local "street racer" had lost control of his nitrous fitted car. The car struck a curb, went airborne for about 80 feet, grazed a tree, hit a brick building, and slid down a concrete walkway four feet below the roadway. The car ended up suspended upside down in the air between the building and the walkway railing.

Westlove and Kelly went into the walkway and administered first aid to the three occupants of the car. Even after the fire engines arrived on the scene, the agents continued to provide aid by helping to package the injured, lifting them to street level, and getting them into ambulances. In letters to the agents, Steve Minas Jr, SAIC Tucson, wrote, "Your quick thinking and training resulted in reducing the degree of injury to these parties, and may have even resulted in saving a life." SA Gary Shanley helped Westlove and Kelly at the accident, but the difference was that he hadn't had an opportunity yet to benefit from the first responder training that guided his colleagues.

The first responder training that made it possible for these Customs officers and others like them to provide first aid at the scene of an accident emerged as a response to an accident in 1998 in the Caribbean. The Security Management branch of the Office of Internal Affairs was tasked with creating an alternative response, and the result was the Puerto Rico/USVI Health Care initiative for Customs employees. The initiative was implemented in 1999, and it began training Customs employees to handle a variety of medical emergencies. The health care initiative provides training as needed to Customs employees in CPR, and First-Responder training with continuing education. Training is also provided for a limited number of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Dale Brown, ASAIC Tucson, requested that this same training be provided to Customs agents in the SAIC office in Tucson. Rick Howerton of Paramed provided the First-Responder training using the standard Red Cross curriculum. Howerton is a retired Dallas fire department paramedic and has trained Customs officers for the past 15 years. "I train agents to save themselves in rural areas," says Howerton. "It's a common sense approach to saving themselves and others."

The territory covered by the SAIC office in Tucson is some of the most rural area in the U.S. Customs Service and includes the Tohono O'Odham reservation. Training is being offered to Customs employees in the most rural areas first, and all of the patrol officers have had the first responder training. At the end of the 40-hour training, graduates are certified in five areas: AED, CPR, oxygen administration, airborne diseases, and emergency response. About 100 Customs employees have been trained in six classes that were held in Douglas, Nogales, Yuma, and Tucson. The entire Native American Customs Patrol Officer Division at the RAIC Sells has also had the first responder training.

The men and women on America's frontlines have always known their jobs were dangerous. Now, with the help and support of SAFE, they are learning how to respond to medical emergencies.

First responder training is funded by the National Training Program and administered by the SAFE division of Human Resources Management. Nearly 130 Customs employees, who work in remote areas, have received comprehensive first responder training which covers the Emergency Medical System, anatomy and function of the human body, basic and advanced care for the airway, patient assessment including vital signs, oxygen therapy, adult/child /infant CPR, treatment of medical and behavioral emergencies, and use of the Automated External Defibrillator. An additional 1,400 employees have received first aid and CPR training. These highly trained rescuers are able to respond promptly to the scene of an accident or sudden illness, act in a calm and caring way, and assist in treating and preparing victims for transportation. HRM supplies each graduate with a first aid kit, including such specialized items as a CPR mask with oxygen port, infectious control kit, thermal blanket, blood pressure unit, and stethoscope.