May 6, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – For the last 40 years St. John Ambulance has hosted the Ontario Open First Aid Challenge (OOFAC). The OOFAC taking place May 7 at Durham College & University of Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT), has first aid teams from across the province competing head to head for first aid glory.

Each team participating in the Ontario Open First Aid Challenge must work their way through several mock casualty scenarios (of which the participants have no prior knowledge). The teams are judged on their ability to manage the scene and provide first aid to the injured.

“We want to put their skills to the test“, said Bill Alexander, Chair of the Challenge Committee. “We want to see how well these responders manage at taking the knowledge and skills they learned in training and applying it to a ‘real life’ scenario.”

This year, the Challenge will have four participant levels: Junior (11-14), Intermediate (15-17), Adult Standard (18+) and Adult Advanced (18+). As an incentive for the participants to go all out for first aid glory, St. John Ambulance will be awarding the winning team of each category a brand new automated external defibrillator (AED) to take home to their sponsoring organization.

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 welcome to come and watch and are encouraged to visit our community partners who will be onsite including; 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 the day of the event. 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