The Foreign Service Journal, December 2019

38 DECEMBER 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL W. Averell Harriman Award for an Entry-Level Officer Moises Mendoza Bringing CPR to a Small Post inMexico M oises Mendoza, an entry-level Foreign Service officer, was hon- ored with the W. Averell Harriman Award for constructive dissent in connection with his extraordinary two-year effort, at great professional risk, to make U.S. Consulate General Matamoros safer by ensur- ing his colleagues had training in dealing with medical emergencies. Because the consul- ate has no medical unit and local emergency response services are lacking, Mr. Mendoza was concerned that colleagues experiencing a medical emergency could die before help arrived. Despite bureaucratic obstacles, he became an emergency medical technician (EMT) and an instructor in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) so that he could make the consulate safer. He then developed a partnership with a local hospital to make his work sustainable, creating a model that many other small posts can follow. Mr. Mendoza went far beyond what would be expected from an entry- level officer in overcoming obstacles to his proposal. When he learned that no funding was available for his emergency medi- cal training, he obtained a scholarship from the Foreign Service Institute to fund his certification as an EMT. When he was told that the department couldn’t pay for his training to be a CPR instructor, he worked with Valley Regional Medi- cal Center in Brownsville, Texas, across the border, to obtain training at no cost. But whenMr. Mendoza approachedmanagement to gain approval to set up a training program at post, he ran into a new challenge. Several officials expressed liability concerns andMr. Mendoza was not permitted to offer CPR training to his colleagues. Moises Mendoza during graduate school in Berlin in 2016, with friend Adam Kong, also an FSO. COURTESYOFMOISESMENDOZA Moises Mendoza with his sister, Viviana Mendoza, at Flag Day in September 2016, receiving his first posting. COURTESYOFMOISESMENDOZA Moises Mendoza at the AFSA Awards Ceremony Oct. 16 in the State Department. AFSA/JOAQUINSOSA