Washington DC-Baltimore Area
Hello there! I’m Luis de la Fuente, a passionate advocate for enhancing medical surge capacities during emergencies, disasters, and outbreaks. Currently, as the Regional Advisor for Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), I lead the charge in implementing the global EMT Initiative across the Americas. My role is all about ensuring that no matter where disaster or outbreak strikes, effective and life-saving health services are rapidly deployable and fully integrated into national health systems. Through my work, I aim to ensure that anyone affected by health emergencies can access quality, life-saving services. I believe that strong national response capacities are the backbone of effective health emergency preparedness and response. I am dedicated to building these capacities from the ground up, while fostering regional and global collaboration. I thrive on collaboration and problem-solving, loving the engagement with diverse teams to brainstorm and implement effective strategies. Humor and a touch of creativity, inspired by my love for Star Wars, are always part of my approach—after all, who wouldn’t want to add a bit of Jedi wisdom to their toolkit? My motto, “Do or do not, there is no try,” guides my every endeavor. Let’s connect and join #EMTamericas
• Lead the implementation of the global Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Initiative across the Americas, focusing on developing and enhancing medical surge capacities during health emergencies. • Collaborate with member countries to build and strengthen their capabilities to deploy EMTs effectively in response to regional health crises, using CICOM methodology to streamline the request, offer, and coordination of the emergency medical teams and other rapid response capacities. • Provide strategic guidance and technical support for the establishment and operationalization of EMTs, ensuring adherence to international standards and best practices and aligned with the objectives of the EMT2030 strategy. • Develop and implement mechanisms and tools based on CICOM methodology to enhance the efficiency of EMT coordination and deployment processes. • Provide technical cooperation to support the enhancement of 911 and EMS systems in the Americas, ensuring these systems are integrated and responsive within broader emergency management frameworks. This includes strengthening their capabilities to handle high demand scenarios effectively, thus bolstering overall rapid response capacities and medical surge preparedness. • Coordinate with international, regional and national partners to align efforts and maximize the impact of rapid response and medical surge capacities across the region.
• Coordinated technical cooperation initiatives under the PAHO Regional COVID-19 IMS Team to enhance medical surge capacity and medical oxygen access, specifically within response pillars (7) case management/clinical operations and (9) strengthening of essential health services. • Provided technical support for the deployment and management of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) and Alternative Medical Care Sites (AMCS) at both national and regional levels. • Supported the enhancement of 911 and EMS systems across the Americas, improving prehospital care during the pandemic. • Co-established and co-led the PAHO Oxygen Technical Group with Ing. Alexandre Lemgruber, creating key documentation, tools and advising on optimizing the supply, distribution, storage, and accessibility of medical oxygen at care points during the pandemic.
Collaborate in the implementation of the PAHO/WHO institutional emergency and disaster response policy. Supervision and implementation of the initiative Foreign Medical Team (FMT) at regional level in LAC.
Oversee and support the coordination at district level for restoring essential health services and reaching a sustained zero Ebola case count.
Department of Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Relief
Responsable del proyecto de consolidación de la acción humanitaria española en Latinoamérica y Caribe. Entre mis funciones está apoyar a la Oficina de Acción Humanitaria de la AECID en las respuestas a emergencias que se desarrollen en la región, potenciando la coordinación con el resto de actores y fortaleciendo la presencia institucional.
Participó en la elaboración del documento “Informe para la Estandarización y Mejora de la Calidad de la Respuesta Directa en Salud a las Emergencias Humanitarias”. Fue el responsable de la edición del resumen ejecutivo y de la coordinación y desarrollo de los capítulos III “Gestión Operativa de la Primera Respuesta” y IV “Proceso de Acreditación”.
Enlace de la AECID en Sri Lanka, donde además de ser el contacto de referencia para las ONGs y Organismos Internacionales, realizó el seguimiento de la implementación del Plan Estratégico y los proyectos de la Cooperación Española en el país, así como la monitorización del conflicto tamil en el norte. En este país también colaboró con el programa ART del PNUD con una asesoría técnica para la implementación de un sistema de emergencias pre-hospitalarias en la provincia sur.