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St. John Ambulance finds home for first aid training

Emergency response teaching carries on with Inclusion Powell River Society collaboration
Regimbald/Young
GROUP EFFORT: St. John Ambulance instructor Brenda-Lee Regimbald [left] and Inclusion Powell River Society employee Sara Young collaborated to continue the organization’s first aid training locally. It is being offered at Inclusion’s Arc Community Event Centre. Sara Donnelly photo

First aid training provided by St. John Ambulance will continue in the community due to a collaboration between the organization and Inclusion Powell River Society. The society has agreed to allow St. John to use its ARC Community Event Centre to host first aid training programs.

“We gave them the space in-kind,” said Inclusion chief operating officer Patricia Townsley. “We’re happy to turn it into a collaborative relationship to keep this service in the community.”

The idea of utilizing the ARC space for first aid training was originally brought forward by Inclusion employee Sara Young and St. John instructor Brenda-Lee Regimbald.

The agreement is a win-win, said Townsley, as the local brigade has many highly skilled people who can provide training without the need for those seeking certification to leave town.

Many businesses and organizations in the community require or prefer employees to have first aid certification and the additional cost of sending people for training outside the region was a concern, she added.

The opportunity to continue training in Powell River was welcome news to St. John Ambulance North Island and Sunshine Coast manager Christie Kiers.

“We’re super happy we can keep that service in the community,” said Kiers. “Hopefully this can provide people with a seamless transition. They’re going to get the same training, just in a different location.”

Founded in Canada in 1884, St. John Ambulance has been in Powell River for 107 years, arriving with the founding of the mill site and construction of the Townsite settlement. A.W. “George” Clapp, who worked for the Powell River Company, started St. John Ambulance in 1911.

Over the years, the organization has provided first aid training and continually provided first aid response services in the community at a variety of public events, including school sporting events and summer festivals. The ambulance service was also part of Powell River’s emergency disaster response group.

In February of this year, the local brigade and branch was closed by its provincial management, which cited it could no longer sustain itself financially. The decision upset many within the community.

Keeping the first aid training is one good piece of news to come out of an otherwise unfortunate turn of events, said Townsley.

“It’s a happy development in a sad story,” she added. “And it really was the result of ground-level, community collaboration. We have this incredible new space and this was exactly the intention we had for the ARC, to be able to engage the community.”

According to Kiers, St. John’s popular dog therapy program will also remain.

“The therapy dog program is still alive and well in Powell River,” said Kiers.

The next first aid training offered at the ARC will take place on June 4.