Teaching staff delivering commercial training for St John Ambulance throughout Northern Ireland were invited to a training event at the charity’s headquarters at Erne, Knockbracken Healthcare Park, recently, for information on equality awareness relating to the provision of first aid course services.

St John Ambulance carries out commercial activities such as First Aid Training Courses for the workplace to help fund the organisation's charitable work for the community delivered by its dedicated team of volunteers. The charity is the leading provider of First Aid and Health and Safety related training courses across Northern Ireland.

The morning session began with a presentation from Aidan Fitzpatrick from the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland. Mr Fitzpatrick gave an overview on legislation on equality and diversity as it related especially to the delivery of first aid training and other health and safety courses.

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In the afternoon, training staff were briefed, during interactive teaching sessions, on the impact on the statutory First Aid at Work Course of revised timings introduced by the HSENI in September 2011. The Course has been revised from a contact time of 24 hours to 18 hours resulting in delivery duration of three days instead of four.

Chairperson of St John Ambulance in Northern Ireland Mr CT Hogg attended the event and thanked the commercial staff for their commitment to making St John Ambulance Northern Ireland’s leading first aid training provider.

"It is St John Ambulance’s mission that everyone who needs first aid should receive it from those around them and that no one should suffer from a lack of first aiders. The St John Ambulance commercial first aid trainers and those who train the wider community are vital to this mission," said Mr Hogg.

Mr Hogg continued: "We are only too aware of the number of injuries and deaths sustained in the workplace but by the courses that St John Ambulance delivers in workplaces in Northern Ireland, critical skills are passed on, that enable others to save lives. The funds generated from the commercial courses also contribute to the financial viability of St John Ambulance enabling us to sustain an effective infrastructure to deliver our charitable outputs and contribute to the public benefit through our first aid volunteers and our St John Ambulance youth development."