NEWS RELEASE
ST. JOHN AMBULANCE
************************* This Remembrance Day, St. John Ambulance remembers the heroes they helped to train
TORONTO, ON – Each Remembrance Day people across Ontario pause to recognize the men and women who gave their lives in the service of this country and its ideals.
This day is of particular significance to St. John Ambulance, who helped prepare many volunteer aid detachments (VADs) for their part in the war effort.
At the beginning of WWI St. John Ambulance was mobilized to train and organize local VADs.
These dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly sewing uniforms, assisting in hospitals and meeting troop trains.
The work of St. John Ambulance trained VADs during the Great War went above and beyond caring for the troops, to assisting with home healthcare.
By 1918, Canada was in the grip of the Spanish Flu and St. John, a leading member of the Emergency Volunteer Health Auxiliary, placed volunteers in homes and staffed hospitals to help care for the overwhelming number of sick.
At the outbreak of WWII, St. John Ambulance once again prepared a new wave of VADs to mobilize.
They were faced with an overwhelming number of female volunteers who anxiously sought to serve their country.
Many of these women were called upon to fill vacancies at military hospitals at home and overseas.
St. John Ambulance also trained VADs for home front safety efforts. First aiders in specially equipped mobile first aid posts were activated to respond in case of air raids or other war related disasters.
For St. John Ambulance the hard work and dedication of the VADs they trained was truly humbling.
These men and women volunteered enthusiastically despite lackluster working conditions and the potential danger of death or illness.
Their selfless efforts will never be forgotten – be it by the sick and wounded they cared for or the organization that had the distinct honour of training them.
This Remembrance Day, St. John Ambulance will pause on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month and remember these heroic men and women, and all those that served and that made the ultimate sacrifice.
For 125 years, St. John Ambulance has been training over 140,000 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, non-denominational, 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
*************************