-All OSS students to receive subsidized first aid training-
OSOYOOS TIMES-December 3, 2008-
By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times
Destination Osoyoos (DO) and St. John Ambulance have partnered up in an effort to help make Osoyoos not only Canada's warmest welcome, but its safest welcome too.
The aim of the partnership is to provide first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, training to at least 2,000 Osoyoos residents over the next three years, which would give this community the distinction of having the most people trained in CPR per capita anywhere in Canada.
Members of DO, the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce, the Osoyoos Indian Band and St. John Ambulance, an international organization dedicated to providing first aid training, joined outgoing Osoyoos Mayor John Slater in signing a document formalizing the agreement at the Osoyoos Visitor Information Centre on Nov. 25.
Glenn Mandziuk, DO's chief executive officer, said the training would be provided alongside the community SuperHost program, which offers training to local residents in the field of customer service.
Such an opportunity will be cost-effective and time effective for Osoyoos's businesses, tourism industry and community groups, he said, as first aid courses ranging from WorkSafeBC Level 1 to Basic LifeSaver will be offered in conjunction with the SuperHost program.
By doing both courses, you are certified as SuperHost and St. John Ambulance, Mandziuk said.
The cost to a business, organization or individual would be between $65 and $150 depending on what level of first aid or customer service training is desired, Mandziuk said.
He added that bundling the training options together would mean significant savings for any interested business or group.
And businesses which have already put their employees through SuperHost training could choose to only participate in the first aid component.
Since the training is a one-day process which would take place in Osoyoos under the direction of St. John Ambulance personnel from the Okanagan Valley, employers will also save time, Mandziuk said.
It's difficult for businesses to send their employees away to do this.rnThe Osoyoos Rotary Club will also work with DO to sponsor first aid training for all students at Osoyoos Secondary School through the SuperHost program.
No Osoyoos student would be required to pay for the SuperHost (and first aid) training, said club President Randy LaRoche, adding that the club would pick up the costs of the training.
And all Osoyoos Indian Band workers at the Nk'Mip Resort will receive the training, said band Councillor Charlotte Sanders.
Osoyoos is the first community in Canada to undertake a training project such as this, Mandziuk said, and with a population of 5,000 and roughly 350,000 people visiting each year, having nearly half the community trained in first aid and CPR will make Osoyoos one of the safest places in the country.
After Mandziuk outlined the details of the partnership to a gathering of more than a dozen people at the visitor centre, St. John Ambulance members Pam Killick and Richard Frick gave a demonstration of some of the skills people who sign up for the first aid training would use.
Part of the training, Killick said, will include using an Automatic External Defibrillation unit to assist in CPR.
She said the machine, which sends electric shocks into a person's body, is a useful tool when giving someone CPR, but it will not save a life on its own.
It will not shock a person that does not have a heartbeat, that's what CPR is for, she said. We don't just need the machine, we need the CPR in conjunction with the machine.rnLarry Odegard, St. John Ambulance's chief executive officer for the B.C./ Yukon area, said the 900-year-old organization is working to have one out of every four Canadians trained in first aid and CPR.
Having so many residents and employees trained in life-saving techniques here in Osoyoos will make a difference, he said, especially when health care providers are not there at a moment of need.rnWe'll have a healthier community here in Osoyoos because more people will be able to respond to health care needs, he said.
According to a DO media release, a 2004 study by Dr. Ian Stiell from the Ottawa Health Research Institute, showed that a person's chances of surviving a cardiac arrest was nearly four times more likely if they receive CPR with the first moments of the attack.rnTwo-day SuperHost Fundamental and WorkSafeBC workshops will take place from January 14 to 15, February 27 to 28 and March 11 and 12.
One-day SuperHost Ambassador and LifeSaver First Aid workshops will take place Jan. 23, Feb. 18 and March 4.
To register or schedule a private class, call DO at 250-495-5070.
[email protected]rn
