- Time of past OR future Camino
- First one in 2005 from Moissac, France.
Thank you Doug, you are a fellow first aider and I do understand your point of view and indeed share a lot of it. I do not brush aside the grey area that lies between the good samaritan laws and offering first aid to all, it is just that I don't think the first is connected to the second in any way. I have my St John diploma and it also gives me world-wide St John Ambulance insurance and I hope that this is enough. I only patch pilgrims up, take the pain away, clean their wounds and cover them, give them comfort. I also give them enough supplies to allow them to change dressings themselves until they reach either a pharmacy or a doctor/nurse in a surgery at the next town. I never go further than simple first aid.
There is a great need on Camino for those willing to offer first aid, we all know this, and the same goes for pastoral care. My first aid is a mission .. I am one of those pesky Christians (though a heretic of course) and believe that I am responding to the command at the end of the story of the Good Samaritan - "then go, Ye, and do likewise" and this I see as my authority. Over the last nine years or so I have met many police on the Camino and not one has asked for my documentation; all have been friendly.
A parallel in legality, perhaps, was the formation of the metro 'angels' some years ago in New York - young men and women who wore a sort of uniform (basically a beret and black blouson) who rode the subways to protect passengers from harm such as violence, muggings, and rape. They were essentially vigilantes, not part of any recognised group, no insurance, no sanction from any authority - they did what they did because they saw that it needed doing and the passengers were always glad that they were there.
Were I to set up a 'clinic' in a building .. well, I wouldn't. First because I merely have first aid diplomas, not medical training, and secondly because such a thing would need to be sanctioned by the authorities and put on an official footing, and quite rightly too.
I agree with you that one of the problems is actually getting some pilgrims to go to the nearest doctor or even to stop walking for a day! I have had a number of pilgrims with obviously medical problems. Some I have taken to the town surgery, others I have asked them to do that in the next town ..... of the pilgrims I do help so many of them have their blister problems because they have completely ignored their condition and just carried on walking, even though they were in intense pain - how does one handle this? They are not our children, we are not their commanding officers ... humour and clear explanation does have some effect, but one cannot 'order' them to alter their ways.
There is a great need on Camino for those willing to offer first aid, we all know this, and the same goes for pastoral care. My first aid is a mission .. I am one of those pesky Christians (though a heretic of course) and believe that I am responding to the command at the end of the story of the Good Samaritan - "then go, Ye, and do likewise" and this I see as my authority. Over the last nine years or so I have met many police on the Camino and not one has asked for my documentation; all have been friendly.
A parallel in legality, perhaps, was the formation of the metro 'angels' some years ago in New York - young men and women who wore a sort of uniform (basically a beret and black blouson) who rode the subways to protect passengers from harm such as violence, muggings, and rape. They were essentially vigilantes, not part of any recognised group, no insurance, no sanction from any authority - they did what they did because they saw that it needed doing and the passengers were always glad that they were there.
Were I to set up a 'clinic' in a building .. well, I wouldn't. First because I merely have first aid diplomas, not medical training, and secondly because such a thing would need to be sanctioned by the authorities and put on an official footing, and quite rightly too.
I agree with you that one of the problems is actually getting some pilgrims to go to the nearest doctor or even to stop walking for a day! I have had a number of pilgrims with obviously medical problems. Some I have taken to the town surgery, others I have asked them to do that in the next town ..... of the pilgrims I do help so many of them have their blister problems because they have completely ignored their condition and just carried on walking, even though they were in intense pain - how does one handle this? They are not our children, we are not their commanding officers ... humour and clear explanation does have some effect, but one cannot 'order' them to alter their ways.