St. John Ambulance launches first aid training with Haitian National Police

OTTAWA, Nov. 4 /CNW/ - St. John Ambulance Canada is pleased to announce a joint partnership with Police Nationale d'Haiti (PNH) and the Government of Canada to equip Haitian first responders with important lifesaving skills and emergency response and preparedness training.

Beginning February 2011 members of all branches of the PNH, including police, firefighters, and the coast guard will undergo basic first aid training based on an internationally-recognized standard, learning vital skills such as emergency triage, stemming blood flow, transporting the injured, setting splints and applying bandages/slings, and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

"The project started as a volunteer activity teaching first aid courses to fellow Canadian and United Nations officers who then worked with the Haitian National Police to deliver the St. John first aid training program," says Justin Schmidt-Clever, long-standing St. John volunteer. "Within 12 months, St. John was able to negotiate a formal agreement with the PNH, and secure full project funding from the Canadian government."

Within two years, the goal is to train 50 first aid instructor trainers, 450 first aid instructors, and more than 7,000 first aid providers throughout Haiti, using St. John Ambulance curriculum. An additional component will bring an awareness of emergency preparedness management to 400 middle-to-senior level managers within the PNH.  The First Aid Instructor Training in Haiti project is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Global Peace and Security Fund.

"With the support of St. John Canada, these instructors will form the nucleus for first aid training within the PNH, assuming responsibility for organizing and running their own first aid training program," adds Dawn Roach, Chief Operating Officer, St. John Ambulance Canada.

Since 1883, St. John Ambulance has been offering life saving skills to Canadians each year and is considered the premier supplier of first aid and CPR training in Canada.

For further information:

Steven Gaetz
CEO, St. John Ambulance National Office
Phone:  [phone]
Email :  [email protected]