A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community
" Outline the project environment for the suggested voluntary activities, including the local community where the project will take place (e.g. geographical, social and economical environment).
" If the host placement is located in a live-in community, please include the rules and conditions that apply also for the volunteer.

Ospitaletto is a village situated 10 Km far from Brescia (in the North of Italy). There are trains and buses every hour. The village is easily reachable as there is the highway exit: A4 Milan - Venice.
It has about 14 000 inhabitants and it's rich in companies and enterprises for the convenience of the highway, the railway and for numerous road junctions which give the possibility to reach all the localities in a short time.
There are also a swimming pool, a tennis court, a gymnasium and a cinema.
The village is considered pretty rich for the presence of different working activities and companies. There's no unemployment in Ospitaletto. The Green Cross has contributed to this several times; as a matter of fact a lot of Ospitaletto's companies ask to us personnel skilled in sanitary matters, since the participation to the First Aid courses is considered as a guarantee for all the accidents that may happen at work.
Also European volunteers will participate to these courses.

RULES AND CONDITIONS:

- The Green Cross is open 24 hours a day. In any case at 12.00 pm the main entrance is closed. Volunteers will be given entrance keys so that they can come back at the time they prefer. For any incorrect behaviour, keys will be requisitioned.
- According to the rules of the Green Cross hosting relatives and friends is forbidden (exceptions can be made after permission).
- Phone can be used only in evening hours and at specific hours that will be agreed with the volunteers. In any case there is a reserved line for the volunteers.
- Volunteers can use Internet every evening from 8.00 pm to 12.00 pm.
- Meals are eaten inside the Green Cross. Breakfast will be served at 7.00 to 7.30 every morning.
- Since the Green Cross is a sanitary organization, it is forbidden to smoke in most of the rooms, except in smoking areas.
- It is forbidden to bring in alcoholic drinks.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
" Describe what you can offer to volunteers in terms of service and learning opportunities.
" Please, explain what will be the role of EVS volunteers in the host organisation.
" Describe the activities in which the volunteers could be involved and the activities the volunteers could create in your organisation. Give examples of typical activities for the volunteers.

From the sanitary point of view, EVS volunteers study all the BLS techniques (Basic Life Support) recognized at international level, that is all the safety operations, the treatment and transportation techniques for patients.
At the end of the course volunteers obtain a certification. The duration of the course is more or less of 6 months: the first part is made of theoretical lessons; after the final test the remaining hours are dedicated to vocational and practical training on the ambulance and with patients under the responsibility of qualified staff. The theoretical part of the course is carried on by doctors and qualified nurses, the practical part by internal trainers called "Instructors" (they obtained this qualification after a specific examination of the Lombardy Region).

After the course volunteers have the opportunity to put into practice the competencies acquired in the social sector within a Health Residence for elderly people under the supervision of qualified staff. Upon request, they can follow the physiotherapy activities organized in the structure, supporting the therapist, or organise spare-time activities for the elderlies.

The competences acquired during the initial training course, are also used in the Residence Arcobaleno, a home for minors who have experienced sexual abuses and violence within their families.

During their service, volunteers are completely safeguarded; at the end of the course, the Green Cross gives them a final certificate.

Most of the previous volunteers have found their way in the social sector and after EVS have decided to attend university courses in the social field and have finally found a job related to their studies (Social Workers, Social-Assistance operators…), or in sanitary activities (First Aid Centres, Hospitals, etc.).
In other cases the knowledge of Italian gave them the opportunity to work in the trade area. Volunteers have also administrative experience as during their EVS they gained familiarity with bureaucratic procedures necessary for the correct fulfilment of the services.

After an initial period for the observation of the different activities proposed by the association, the volunteer will choose with his/her tutor, on the basis of his/her personal aptitudes, the activities that s/he prefers. We will try to give the volunteers the necessary self-confidence to face all the small and big sanitary emergencies that can occur in life: at work, at home or during leisure time.
The volunteer will work side-by-side with other Italian volunteers which work in different activities.
Most of the volunteers are less than 35 years old; the volunteer will be in a young, cosy and dynamic environment, always in contact with other volunteers.
The intercultural dimension is essential for the decision to host volunteers.

Our main objectives are:

- To give volunteers the opportunity to get to know the Italian culture and to develop an open minded and flexible attitude towards the local community and the Green Cross, in order to live an experience of personal development in an intercultural dimension.
- To contribute to remove stereotypes and prejudices both in the foreign volunteers and in the local community.


Volunteers will dedicate most of their time in activities of social assistance and first aid, which they can implement and develop with new suggestions, ideas, indications in accordance to their skills, attitudes and background.
We are sure that volunteers are people full of resources endowed with great liveliness and altruism and that they can contribute very well in the solution of the problems that we face every day.
Their presence and their help will be for us of great support in the development of our activities.

A description of the activities step-by-step follows:

1. The arrival of the volunteer in the Green Cross is characterized at the beginning by the acclimatisation with the staff, the country and the neighbouring regions. After that, the volunteer will know better Brescia and its history through excursions and trips.
2. We will continue with thoretical lessons on
" Basic knowledge of the Italian language rules.
" Behavioural rules to keep with third people and with other volunteers in order to create immediately the collaboration necessary for the develpment of the tasks.
Volunteers will also be introduced to the local population through an article on the local newspaper where it will be possible for them to write their impressions, their expectations and will explain the reasons why they chose to come to Italy. It is important in order to rise interest in Italian young people for the European Voluntary Service.
3. The third step will be about technical learning through a specific course. It will be on the following topics: anatomy, physiology of the human body, the system of emergencies in Italy and its laws, etc. The teaching staff will be composed of doctors and nurses who will explain each subject really easily and clearly. Each volunteer will learn the international guidelines in matter of first aid assistance, with a final test. The volunteers will have the support of the psychologist of the Green Cross who will teach them the right way to behave with ill people, according to their pathology and how to bear and overcome the stress of this activity. The psychologist and the tutor will be always helpful with volunteers to solve any problem, questions or doubts during the EVS period at the Green Cross.
4. The following step will begin after 1 month after the arrival of the volunteer. The first and second volunteer will collaborate side by side with the team of the first aid and emergency unit and with professional nurses of the Emergency Center 118 of Brescia. They will have specific aims: A) Every morning the volunteers will check on the First Aid equipment, through a series of tests. This step will be made with the responsible of the workshift (who is one of the Italian volunteers). B) The volunteers will participate in actions of First Aid assistance. They will be side by side with Green Cross volunteers and nurses, and will practice some of the notions learnt during the course. We obtained excellent results with previous volunteers who learnt these methods very well. It's important to underline that the volunteers will always be in total security and will be active only after an intense training period. When the staff and the volunteers go back to the Green Cross it is really important to take a moment of "debriefing" together where the volunteers can talk about their impressions, fears, and every important argument for them. They will clean the mean of transport which require a specific procedure. We would like to precise that EVS volunteers will never be substitutes of permanent volunteers, but a support.
5. The third and fourth volunteer will be principally in charge for assistance activity. In the morning, after controlling the ambulance instrumentation and its condition, the volunteers will start the service of transportation fo elderly people to the hospital for medical visits. With the supervision of the psychologist, the volunteers will start a relationship with the ill person in order to understand his/her needs. Usually they are lonely people who are living in elderly centers or at their home.
6. One day per week the volunteers will be in charge for the cleaning of the seat of the Green Cross, giving instructions and indications to the other volunteers of the Green Cross for the development of this task.
7. In subsequent times they can also be in charge for the switchboard of the Green Cross for ordinary phone calls (but not for emergency service).
All the volunteers may be in charge of the medicines transport.
Every single activity will be followed by the tutor, who will meet the volunteers every week end to evaluate improvements, problems or difficulties that they have. In case of difficulty the project will be reoriented in order to satisfy and reward volunteer requirements.
The volunteers can decide to follow only the emergency or the social sanitary activity or it is possible for them to alternate according to their wishes (day by day or week by week).
According to the sensibility and the skills of the volunteer it will be possible to create together personalised projects.
Just as examples the volunteer can organize some special events in schools, or entertainment activities with the elderlies, etc.

EXAMPLE OF A WEEKLY TIMETABLE (6/7 daily hours from Monday to Friday)

Morning

- 7.00: Waking up and room cleaning
- 7.30: Breakfast
- 8.00: Beginning of activity. Check list with the ambulance driver and check up of instruments and the vehicle conditions.
- 8.00/8.30: Transfer to patient's home; the volunteer will take the person on the ambulance or on the car to take him/her to the medical facilities for the visit. His/her presence will be of help in terms of befriending the elderly. He/she will deliver all the medical documentation to the nurse of the district.
- 11.00 Return to the Green Cross. The volunteer, in this case, will accompany the person to do some shopping, for example, and he/she will bring the patient back home.
- 12.00 Assistance for the lunch for some elderly people
- 12.30 Lunch and break in the Green Cross

Afternoon

- 14.00 - 15.00 Italian language course (or, if they know the Italian language, First aid course: cardiac massages, etc.)
- 15.00 - 17.00: Working activity (medicines transportation, or first aid activity with the nurse, reception of phone calls, etc.)
- 17.00: Free time
- 19.00: Dinner with the permanent volunteers of the evening shift.

During the year we organise trips and sensitisation initiatives in schools on the subject of the elderly conditions and on first aid, with the possibility for volunteers to participate.

The volunteers will work no more than 7 hours per day for 5 days a week, from Monday to Friday. Saturdays and Sundays off. Holidays will be directly agreed with the volunteers (2 weeks every 6 months of service).

C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
Please describe the profiles of volunteers you would like to receive in your organisation. Include information on how you ensure an open and transparent recruitment process as well as the overall accessibility of EVS to all young people. Consider further information about the type of sending organisation you want to cooperate with. This information can help the match-making between volunteer candidates, sending organisations and your organisation.

There are no particular selection criteria; volunteers have to know that it is an activity which requires a lot of self-control and patience, because they will be in contact with ill people, but our project will give them also lots of personal satisfactions.

Selection methods

During the evaluation of applications, we'll take into consideration the profiles which better cling to the above mentioned requirements.
Transparency is guaranteed and no discriminations for sex, origin, walk of life, or linguistic knowledge will be pursued.

D. Special needs (if applicable)
If your placements are open to hosting volunteers with fewer opportunities, please provide information about the competence, experience and infrastructure and (human or other) resources available in your organisation to accommodate and support them.
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E. Risk prevention, safety and protection
Please describe how you will guarantee a safe living and working environment for the EVS volunteers, how you will prevent risks and crises and how - in the case of EVS volunteers aged 16 or 17 - you ensure appropriate supervision, child safety and protection.
The operative conditions of the project foresee the greatest safety and tutelage for people.
All volunteers have a personal insurance cover for civil liability. Moreover, all the structure and the operative units foresee a series of procedures relative to the safety of staff and premises, as the organization is based on first aid and on the approach with patients in physical difficulties.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=42000417217