Our Mission
LFR International is an internationally registered nonprofit organization that develops community-based emergency medical services (EMS) in resource-limited environments. By empowering transportation providers as Lay First Responders, LFR International facilitates the sustainable development of EMS infrastructure in a research-informed, systematic progression of levels toward formal, professional emergency medical services.
The Problem
Prehospital EMS for traumatic injuries is vital to ensuring public health and community well-being. While the presence of EMS in high-income nations is taken for granted, most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have no formal prehospital EMS. Currently, tens of thousands of communities lack the financial resources and medical support needed to implement EMS systems on a local level, which requires culturally sensitive solutions that are locally-informed and have high local stakeholder involvement.
The Facts
Injury is the leading cause of death globally for individuals between the ages of 15 and 45, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries where 90% of these deaths occur. Approximately six million people die each year as a result, accounting for 10% of the world’s deaths, more than the number of fatalities from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined. An additional 58 million sustain lifelong injuries that permanently affect their quality of life.
Our Beginnings
In 2016, our Co-founder and board chair, Peter Delaney, witnessed firsthand the impact that lay first responder programs can have on low—and middle-income communities in Uganda. Joining forces with our Co-founder and Executive Director, Zachary Eisner, the two worked to refine the Lay First Responder Model of Prehospital Care through pilot programs in Uganda, Chad, and Sierra Leone but quickly recognized the need for something bigger. LFR International was founded as a framework for the combination of groundbreaking academic research, global health education, and culturally informed humanitarian aid in order to build prehospital trauma care on a global scale.
Our Vision
We envision a world where no one will die from treatable injuries. By 2025, LFR will have trained, equipped, and deployed over 12,000 first responders in low- and middle-income countries worldwide. But our work has only just begun…
In order to produce and sustain a growing number of international projects, LFR will form new partnerships with academic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations. By 2032, LFR hopes to have a presence in the majority of low- and middle-income countries in order to prevent the millions of needless deaths that occur due to injury every year.