One of the community's oldest safety service providers is on a mission to raise awareness about its services in the area.
St. John Ambulance (SJA) volunteers and staff gathered Monday morning at the Orillia Opera House for a flag raising, attended by Councillor Jay Fallis and Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton.
“It's an opportunity for us to let people know what we do in the community,” said Cathy Banting, branch manager, Barrie Simcoe Muskoka Branch for SJA. “We do more than what people think.”
She said SJA is generally known for its medical first responders program, through which volunteers provide first aid at community events.
“But a lot of people don't realize that we have a therapy dog program,” said Banting. “(The dogs) go into hospitals and nursing homes, as well as stress relief at universities and colleges.
“(The program) now also does bite-free programs in schools to teach children how to be safe around dogs,” she said.
As well, Banting said, a number of years ago, SJA took over the responsibility of holding car seat safety workshops. She noted fire departments and the health unit used to look oversee this task.
"But they've kind of stepped back, so there was a need in the community to teach people the proper way of installing car seats," she explained.
According to Banting, close to 85 per cent of car seats are not installed properly. “If they're not installed properly, they're not going to keep the infant safe in the event of a collision,” she said.
Banting said SJA’s best-kept secret is probably the organization's youth program.
“We teach youth how to become better citizens through proficiencies, like leadership and good citizenship,” she said. “And we always do first-aid training, because the more trained people in the community the safer we are.”
The Barrie Simcoe Muskoka Branch is one of the 30 branches in the Ontario, said Banting, noting it covers a vast area from Sudbury down to Highway 9 and from Algonquin Park to Collingwood.
People should keep in mind, she said, that when someone pays to come to one of SJA’s first-aid courses or buys a kit from the organization, the money goes back to the community through its volunteer programs.
For more information, visit sja.ca.
