Celebrating 87 years of excellence: St John Ambulance

Today, June 24, 2024, St John Ambulance will celebrate its 87th anniversary of operations in Ghana, marking a major milestone.

The agency was founded on a simple, yet powerful, principle of everyone deserving access to lifesaving medical care.

St John Ambulance Ghana is a dedicated First Aid organisation committed to promoting health and well-being across Ghana. It is part of the Order of St John which is a major international charitable organisation in 42 countries.

Its main focus is to alleviate human suffering through the training and provision of First Aid services, event cover, disaster management preparedness, emergency ambulance services, community health care and youth development.

St John Ambulance Ghana was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 57 of 1959 with a Governing Council. It has since existed and working as a health service delivery organisation, subvented by the Ministry of Health and providing mainly First Aid training and provision of services at workplaces, public gatherings and at community level.

Staff who operate and work in the regions across the country are supported by numerous volunteers, who assist in their operations.

Goal

In line with the goal of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable, St John Ambulance Ghana’s activities sync with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of empowering the communities through education in First Aid and health promotion.

Under the Ministry of Health (MOH) which seeks to improve the health status of all individuals living in the country through effective and efficient policy formulation, resource mobilisation, monitoring and regulation of health care delivery, St John Ambulance supplements the healthcare services by bridging the gaps in emergency care and reinforcing MOH’s healthcare delivery objective.

This helps to build community resilience and empower positive response to health crisis. By working together with the WHO and MOH, St John Ambulance Ghana achieves the common goal to improve the overall health and well-being of the community.

For the past 87 years in operation, St John Ambulance Ghana has been providing services such as certified First Aid training in first aid at work; basic emergency first aid; lifesaver international first aid; advanced first aid; aviation first aid and ambulance aid.

Annually, St John Ambulance averagely trains more than 1200 certified first aid trainees across the country. This gives an estimated number of 12,000 trainees for the past 10 years.

The agency also engages in extensive health education on both radio and television for both the rural and urban areas in different local languages, with one million viewers and listeners annually.

Its voluntary department manages a wide range of well trained and equipped volunteers across the country who provide First Aid volunteerism like community health outreach, disaster response.

Anniversary

The 87th Anniversary celebration this year on the theme: “Protect and Serve: Championing Road Safety And First Aid” was chosen in line with the recent high incidence of road accidents.

The agency considered the fact that many road accidents injuries could be prevented with prior proper First Aid training and awareness and also education of long-distance drivers and passengers on essential First Aid skills, such as bleeding control, CPR and others.

In collaboration with the Ghana AIDS Commission, St John Ambulance-Ghana is going to lead in advocacy of HIV/AIDS education on various radio and television stations nationwide in different local languages.

This collaboration is specially to remind all Ghanaians, particularly the youth, that HIV/AIDS is still in existence and its silently spreading among the people.

Activities

The activities for this year’s celebration, which will be observed from June 18 to 27, include: First Aid at work training for VIP secretarial staff and selected drivers; health education for VIP bus drivers; presentation of Pen drives with recorded First Aid education videos to enable its passengers to watch and learn during their journey in the buses and CPD Training in HIV/AIDS and substance abuse for its staff in partnership with Ghana Aids Commission.

As a track record, the agency has organised training programmes in various levels in First Aid to a number of institutions. Institutions receiving refresher applications for First Aid training every year include mining companies, aviation companies, companies in the energy sector, educational institutions, engineering and construction, institutions in the health sector and other private sector organisations.

The agency is currently managing over 50 First Aid school clubs from the various regions through the professional mentorship and training of its staff and well-trained volunteers.

In celebrating the anniversary, they stand and honour the countless lives touched, the families supported and the communities empowered through their work. Let’s join the agency as they reflect on their journey, celebrate their achievements, and look forward to many more years of service and impact.

The writer is the CEO, St. John Ambulance
Email: k.apedzi@stjohn.org.gh