How the idea was born
In the summer of 2026, I took part in the summer program of the Dr. García Rinaldi Foundation, a program for high school students interested in medicine. As part of its community service component, our group was asked to design a project that addressed a real need.
The question that guided the team was simple but revealing: schools practice what to do in a fire, an earthquake, or a security situation, but what does an ordinary person do when someone next to them suffers a stroke, a heart attack, or severe bleeding? When we asked around, we discovered that almost no one — students or adults — knew how to respond.
That is how Enlace Azul ("Blue Link") came about: a community education project on first aid and health emergency response, of which I am a co-founder.
Why SER de Puerto Rico
The team chose to develop the project in partnership with SER de Puerto Rico, an organization that serves people with disabilities. The reason was empathy: we wanted that community to know that there are young people standing with them in practice, not just in words, and that people with disabilities and their families should also have the tools to act calmly in an emergency.
About SER de Puerto Rico
SER de Puerto Rico was founded in 1950 and has spent 75 uninterrupted years providing medical, therapeutic and educational services to people with functional diversity. It was the first center on the island to bring together, under one roof, the resources needed for the comprehensive rehabilitation of people with disabilities.
Its importance to Puerto Rican society is hard to overstate. For three generations, families across the island have turned to SER for therapies, specialized equipment, education and employment support that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. Its annual Teletón — which celebrated its 50th edition — has become one of the island's great acts of collective solidarity, and in 2026 the organization was formally declared Patrimonio del Pueblo (heritage of the people) by law, recognizing three quarters of a century of continuous service.
Partnering with an institution of that weight gave Enlace Azul both credibility and direction: emergency preparedness must include the people who are most often left out of it.
What Enlace Azul does
- Orientations and presentations open to the community on how to recognize and react to health emergencies — and, above all, how not to make the situation worse.
- A website in development with short, organized guides and links to the Dr. García Rinaldi Foundation and SER de Puerto Rico, so people have a resource to turn to after each orientation.
- A presence on Instagram (@enlaceazul), where links to the presentations are posted so anyone can participate.
Public recognition
The project was featured live during the Teletón SER de Puerto Rico, where host Jorge Pavón interviewed the team and highlighted the initiative as an example of young people who "are the present" of the island, not just its future. During the interview, the team explained the project''s origin, its partnership with SER, and its goal of ensuring that no one in the community freezes in the face of an emergency.
What I take from the experience
Beyond the talks, the experience let me see medicine from a different angle: not just observing a doctor at work, but working directly with people who need help. That contact reaffirmed my interest in studying medicine and my commitment to serving Puerto Rico, where the shortage of physicians is an urgent need.