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Fund training, trauma kits and the local teams that keep response networks running long after we arrive.
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Community-based emergency care
When every minute matters, we make sure someone is there.
LFR trains lay first responders to deliver emergency care where there is no ambulance.
In many countries, a road crash means waiting hours for help that never comes.
There is no number to call and no ambulance on its way. But there is always someone nearby — a driver, a neighbour, a stranger who stops. Our work begins with the people who are already there.
The proof, in numbers
Independently studied, government-partnered, and growing every year.
- lay first responders trained
- 0+lay first responders trained
- people covered by emergency care
- 0+people covered by emergency care
- people directly treated
- 0+people directly treated
- countries
- 0countries
The LFR Model
Four steps to a first-response network
Step 1
Partner with local governments
Every programme starts with ministries of health and local leaders.
Step 2
Train existing transport drivers
The people already on the roads become certified lay first responders.
Step 3
Equip them for the first minutes
Trauma kits, dispatch support and refresher training where it counts.
Step 4
Build an EMS system that lasts
Locally owned, locally funded, designed to outlive our involvement.
A responder's story
“I used to pass accidents and feel useless. Now I stop, and I know exactly what to do. Last month I carried a boy with a bleeding leg — I tied it off before we reached the hospital. He is walking today.”
Ibrahim K.
Okada driver and lay first responder, Makeni, Sierra Leone
Why it works
Peer-reviewed research. WHO-aligned training.
Our curriculum follows World Health Organization guidance for prehospital trauma care, and outcomes are published in peer-reviewed journals with academic partners. The model does not just save lives — it strengthens the livelihoods of the people delivering the care.
- 96%
- of responders still report a positive outlook three years on
- 39%
- higher earnings for trained drivers
Research partners
- Global Health Institute
- University Trauma Lab
- Road Safety Consortium
- Ministry of Health
Put a responder on every road
Your gift trains and equips the people who arrive first. Monthly giving is what makes a local system sustainable.
Demonstration only — no payment is processed. Amounts are illustrative.
Where we work
Eight countries, one locally-owned model
Headquartered in Makeni, Sierra Leone, with programmes led by local teams and delivered alongside national health ministries.
- Sierra Leone
- Uganda
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Guatemala
- Chad
- Tanzania
- Ghana
Global HQ — Makeni, Sierra Leone
Get involved
Partner with us
We work with governments, health ministries, universities and NGOs to design and scale national first-response systems.
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As featured in
- The Global Post
- Health Weekly
- World Report
- Frontline Journal
- Dispatch