Dr. Mario Vílchez Madrigal began his career in the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) as a General Physician in 1998, completed his Emergency Medicine Residency in 2003 and worked as an attending emergency physician until 2016. During that period, he participated in several disaster preparedness and response activities, including the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, USNS Comfort Continuing Promise in 2011, and multiple national deployments. He led the CCSS EMT Type I Classification process and is currently the National Focal Point. In 2016 he joined the CCSS´s Center for Emergency and Disaster Management (CAED), holding several positions until becoming Director in 2023.