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The Red Cross clinics in parts of northern Mexico refuse to admit patients who have been injured from gunshot wounds after being caught up in the drug war in which hit men from one cartel intercepted Red Cross ambulances in order to kidnap injured hit men of another. In a separate event, earlier this week, a 2 year Red Cross volunteer was shot and killed.
Miguel Angel Valdez, Director of Red Cross operations in the city of Tampico, in the border state of Tamaulipas, said it had adopted this practice after this week, gunmen attacked an ambulance two blocks from the clinic of the institution and took a man wounded in a shootout.
We took this decision in the Red Cross (local) not to accept patients from prisons or wounded in armed clashes because the safety risks of our staff. We cannot continue to risk our staff. The Red Cross has always been highly respected because we assist those in need, we choose no sides, regardless of cartel affiliation. But now, all the rules are being violated"-Miguel Angel Valdez- Red Cross Tampico Director
In the state of Sinaloa, on the Pacific coast, police began escorting the ambulances and monitoring Red Cross med-centers after one of its employees was killed on Sunday in a shootout where several gunmen followed an injured rival to a clinic to complete the kill.
Genevieve Mary Rogers, who had been volunteering for over two years, was the first Red Cross staff killed since President Felipe Calderón launched the war on drugs in 2006.
Emergency personnel, nurses and ambulance teams immediately protested in the state capital of Culiacan, holding signs reading "Service suspended ... We demand security," and accompanied by ambulances with their sirens.
"We have asked the world to respect the symbol of the Red Cross, but there has been a loss of values here. It's like people have forgotten what the Red Cross stands for, what we are..-Arnoldo Montano, Sinaloa director of Red Cross
The Red Cross clinic in Culiacan closed for two days after the death of Rogers. Authorities later agreed to provide police escorts for ambulances and place agents in hospitals and clinics.
On Tuesday, in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, one of the world's most deadliest cities, doctors and support staff of two government clinics, tired of the gunmen entering the emergency room to rescue their wounded comrades and kill their opponents, abandoned their posts in protest.
Medical professionals are now one of the sectors most affected by cartel violence. Some doctors now refuse to admit patients in private clinics after six o'clock, or see only patients who have been highly recommended by other patients.
