WINDHOEK – With 57 members countrywide the Namibian Marshall Rangers work day and night to fight crime and provide first aid assistance at traumatic incidents such as car accidents and shootings - at no cost.

Speaking to New Era this week, Marshall Sean Naude, the founder of Namibian Marshall Rangers, said: “A marshall is a patriot who won’t watch something happen. They will take action.”

Naude and his team are often the first to arrive at crime or accident scenes and their aim is to provide first aid and cordon off the area while waiting for rescue emergency services such as the police and paramedics to arrive.

They also clean up the area after the emergency services have left. “We assist with control, we cordon off the area, we help with traffic and keep criminals away from the scene,” Naude explained the functions of Namibian Marshall Rangers.

Often times, however, Naude and his team are forced to work without basic equipment such as first aid kits and medical gloves.

““We are continuously on standby. Sometimes we cannot assist (at accident scenes) because we don’t have things like gloves,” said Naude.

Some of the members of Namibian Marshall Rangers are trained in basic first aid and there are marshall rangers who also trained in basic life support and advanced life support, while the medical team has a qualified registered nurse.

“We advise that most people should do a basic first aid course so that they are better equipped to help people in need until medical services arrive,” said Naude.

Naude called on supportive individuals and organisations to fund them with equipment such as materials, detergents, medical gloves and first aid kits. Last week, Shipanga Medical Services donated boxes of medical gloves as well as eight first aid kits.