May 4, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – When a person experiences a medical emergency, they rarely have the good fortune to experience the incident (heart attack/car accident/fall) in front of a hospital or near a passing paramedic. Most incidents are un-witnessed taking place at home, work or during a beloved past time. Because of this the first person on the scene is often a bystander, and what they do in those first few minutes can seriously affect the casualty outcome.

To highlight the importance of first aid training St. John Ambulance is hosting the Ontario Open First Aid Challenge (OOFAC). The OOFAC, which takes place May 7th, 2011 at Durham College & University of Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT), will host 23 first aid teams from across the province. The Challenge consists of four participant levels: Junior (11-14), Intermediate (15-17), Adult Standard (18+) and Adult Advanced (18+).

Each team will face several mock casualty scenarios (of which they have no prior knowledge) and will be judged on their ability to asses the situation and provide first aid to the injured.

“We go to great lengths to make these scenarios as real as possible,” said Bill Alexander, Chairperson of the Challenge Committee. “We want our competitors to feel as though they are responding to a real incident where their first aid knowledge and skills will make a difference.”

The Ontario Open First Aid Challenge is being held at Durham College & University of Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT), May 7, from 9am – 5pm. Spectators are encouraged to come visit and watch the competitions and visit with our other community partners, such as Oshawa Fire Services, Durham Emergency Management Office, Salvation Army, Kids Safety Village, and Neighbourhood Watch. St. John Ambulance will also be running a car seat clinic for expecting parents, for more information visit www.oofac.ca.  

For over 125 years St. John Ambulance has been teaching first aid in Ontario. Today we train over 155,000 Ontarians annually in first aid and other health care related courses and remains dedicated to saving lives at work, home and play. With over 4,000 volunteers contributing over half a million hours of community service a year, St. John Ambulance is an integral part of the community offering such unique and innovative programs as; medical first response, disaster response, car seat clinics, health and safety related youth programs and therapy dog services. As a charitable, humanitarian organization, proceeds from St. John Ambulance’s first aid training and first aid product sales directly support these vital community services programs. For more information on St. John Ambulance training courses and volunteer opportunities or to contact your local branch, visit www.sja.ca/on