First aid and humanitarian aid training to strengthen rural community resilience in Guaranda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70577/cieninter.v4i3.144Keywords:
community resilience, first aid, humanitarian aid, rural parishes, disaster risk management, Guaranda canton, Ecuador.Abstract
The rural parishes of Guaranda canton, situated between 2,500 and 4,000 meters above sea level in Ecuador’s Bolívar Province, face a convergence of natural hazards landslides, frost events, earthquakes, and floods compounded by an unmet basic needs (UBN) poverty rate of 58.6% according to the 2022 Population and Housing Census. Against this backdrop, community-based first aid and humanitarian aid training emerges as a bottom-up resilience-building strategy. This study employs a mixed-methods approach quantitative and qualitative using structured surveys (n = 384), semi-structured interviews (n = 24), and focus groups (n = 6) across eight rural parishes: Facundo Vela, Julio E. Moreno, Salinas, San Lorenzo, San Luis de Pambil, San Simón, Santa Fe, and Simiatug. Findings indicate that only 12.5% of respondents have received any first aid training, and average emergency service response time exceeds 90 minutes in five of the eight parishes. A significant positive correlation was identified (r = 0.68; p < 0.001) between participation in training programs and perceived self-efficacy in emergencies. Interviews reveal that communities with stronger social capital active organizational networks, communal work practices (mingas), and community councils (cabildos) demonstrate greater willingness to form community brigades. The study concludes that first aid training programs articulated with local knowledge and existing organizational structures provide a viable mechanism for transitioning from passive vulnerability to proactive resilience, provided they are accompanied by decentralized public policies ensuring sustainability and territorial coverage.
Downloads
References
Aldrich, D. P., y Meyer, M. A. (2020). Social capital and community resilience. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(2), 254–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214550299 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214550299
American Heart Association (AHA). (2020). Highlights of the 2020 American Heart Association guidelines for CPR and ECC. AHA.
Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. (2023). Declaración política de la reunión de alto nivel sobre el examen de mitad de período del Marco de Sendai para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres 2015-2030 (Resolución A/RES/77/289, 18 de mayo de 2023). Naciones Unidas. https://www.undrr.org/publication/political-declaration-high-level-meeting-midterm-review-sendai-framework-disaster-risk
Braun, V., y Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036232078.n9
Cariolet, J.-M., Vuillet, M., y Diab, Y. (2021). Measuring community disaster resilience at local levels: An adaptable resilience framework. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 63, 102468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102468 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102468
Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). (2023). Mujeres rurales y resiliencia climática en América Latina. Naciones Unidas.
Creswell, J. W., y Plano Clark, V. L. (2021). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3.ª ed.). SAGE Publications.
Cutter, S. L., Barnes, L., Berry, M., Burton, C., Evans, E., Tate, E., y Webb, J. (2008). A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters. Global Environmental Change, 18(4), 598–606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.07.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.07.013
Federación Internacional de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja (FICR). (2022). First Aid Policy. FICR. https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/IFRC-First%20Aid-Policy-EN.pdf
Federación Internacional de Sociedades de la Cruz Roja y de la Media Luna Roja (FICR). (2025). International first aid, resuscitation and education guidelines 2025. FICR. https://www.ifrc.org/document/international-first-aid-resuscitation-and-education-guidelines
Fundación de Organizaciones de Salinas (FUNORSAL). (2023). Informe de gestión 2022-2023. FUNORSAL.
Gaillard, J. C. (2021). The invention of disaster: Power and knowledge in discourses on hazard and vulnerability. Routledge Studies in Hazards, Disaster Risk and Climate Change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315752167
Imperiale, A. J., y Vanclay, F. (2021). Conceptualizing community resilience and the social dimensions of risk to overcome barriers to disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 29(5), 891–905. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2182 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2182
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC). (2023). VIII Censo de Población y VII de Vivienda 2022. Resultados cantonales: Guaranda. INEC. https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/informacion-censal-cantonal/
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC). (2024). Pobreza por Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas: una mirada desde el Censo 2022. INEC. https://www.censoecuador.gob.ec/
Kuhlicke, C., de Brito, M. M., Bartkowski, B., Botzen, W., Doğulu, C., Han, S., Hudson, P., Karanci, A. N., Klassert, C. J., Otto, D., Scolobig, A., Soares, T. M., y Rufat, S. (2023). Spinning in circles? A systematic review on the role of theory in social vulnerability, resilience and adaptation research. Global Environmental Change, 80, 102672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102672 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102672
Lavell, A. (2021). Gestión local del riesgo de desastres en América Latina: perspectivas, avances y retos pendientes. En C. Natenzon y D. Viand (Eds.), Gestión del riesgo en América Latina: aprendizajes y desafíos (pp. 23–48). La RED.
Lee, J., Aldrich, D. P., Kiyota, E., Tanaka, Y., y Sawada, Y. (2022). Social capital building interventions and community-level resilience: Evidence from a field experiment. Scientific Reports, 12, 14603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18566-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14537-8
Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador (MSP). (2023). Anuario de estadísticas de salud: recursos y actividades de salud 2022. MSP.
Miner, T., Priest, S., Belyeu-Camacho, T. C., Flores, J. M., y Rodgers, G. T. A. (2022). Community first aid training: A tool to strengthen community resilience. Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado. https://hazards.colorado.edu/public-health-disaster-research/community-first-aid-training
Mochizuki, J., et al. (2023). Reconceptualizing community-based disaster risk management: From external-led projects to community-centered resilience building through a systematic review. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 95, 103854.
Oficina de las Naciones Unidas para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres (UNDRR). (2022). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022: Our world at risk — Transforming governance for a resilient future. Naciones Unidas.
Oficina de las Naciones Unidas para la Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres (UNDRR). (2023). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2023: Mapping resilience for the Sustainable Development Goals. Naciones Unidas.
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). (2021). WHO guideline on emergency care systems. OMS.
Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). (2023). WHO enhances community first aid responders training programme. OMS Oficina Regional para el Mediterráneo Oriental. https://www.emro.who.int/iraq/news/who-enhances-community-first-aid-responders-training-program.html
Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS). (2022). Agentes comunitarios de salud en la Región de las Américas: contribuciones y desafíos. OPS/OMS.
Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS). (2023). Ecuador: Country profile. Health in the Americas+. OPS/OMS. https://hia.paho.org/en/node/180
Patel, S. S., Rogers, M. B., Amlôt, R., y Rubin, G. J. (2021). What do we mean by ‘community resilience’? A systematic literature review of how it is defined in the literature. PLOS Currents: Disasters, 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.db775aff25efc5ac4f0660ad9c9f7db2
Asociación Esfera. (2025). Operationalising Sphere: A practical guide to contextualisation. Sphere Association. https://www.spherestandards.org/.
Razzak, J., ul Haq, Z., Naseer, R., Baig, N., Merchant, A. A. H., Mahmood, S., ... y Haider, A. H. (2023). Methodological analysis of a community-based training initiative using the EPIS framework: An ongoing initiative to empower 10 million bystanders in CPR and bleeding control. Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open, 8(1), e001132. https://doi.org/10.1136/tsaco-2023-001132 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/tsaco-2023-001132
Secretaría de Gestión de Riesgos del Ecuador (SGR). (2023). Resolución Nro. SGR-469-2023: Lineamientos para la gestión de riesgos a nivel de gobiernos autónomos descentralizados. SGR. https://www.gestionderiesgos.gob.ec/
Secretaría Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos del Ecuador (SNGR). (2023). Informe de situación Nro. 19: Época lluviosa, provincia de Bolívar. SNGR. https://www.gestionderiesgos.gob.ec/informes-de-situacion-actual-por-eventos-adversos-ecuador/
Secretaría Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos del Ecuador (SNGR). (2026). Informe de situación Nro. 19: Lluvias — desde el 01 de enero de 2026 a la fecha, Bolívar. SNGR. https://www.gestionderiesgos.gob.ec/
Shaw, R. (2012). Community-based disaster risk reduction. Emerald Group Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7262(2012)10
Tansley, G., et al. (2023). Prehospital emergency care in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 38(4), 507–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X23005988 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X23006088
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gilberth Leonardo Villa Coles, Mery Roció Rea Guaman
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
