In this decade, St John Ambulance, Cork City, finds itself in a period of transition. Simple first aid has long been the staple of our presence at events throughout the country, but this has now begun to change in favour of more advanced techniques that substantially increases the skill set that our members can use to help a person in need of it most.

Gone are the days when water, antiseptic soap, a few sticking plasters and a bandage filled the bag of a St. John Ambulance member. These items among others, on their own, will not fulfil the health and safety requirements of big event like a concert.

Arguably, the start of the more advanced training came with the advent of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Once a piece of equipment so expensive only emergency medical services could afford, they are now ubiquitous in our daily lives. One cannot walk down the street today without seeing the familiar sign showing an AED is stationed nearby. 

Use of the AED is now a compulsory module of an occupational first aid course, and statistics have shown that with the more widespread use of the AED, there have been fewer cases of death caused by cardiac arrest. We at St John Ambulance Cork receive the best of training in the use of the AED, and we know that participants of our public first aid courses are given that same training and are able to use the AED to the best of their abilities.

Patient care has been exponentially increased with the advent of cheaper, smaller diagnostic devices and instruments. Instruments that can deduce the level of blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, heart rhythm, and temperature are all valuable tools in the care of patient. St John Ambulance, Cork City, is privileged to have five state of the art vehicles in addition to a mobile cabinet and several jump bags stocked full of these instruments, enabling us to provide a first class service to the public at major events.

In order to get the best use out of these instruments, some of our more experienced members have undertaken additional training, in the form of Emergency First Responder qualification. This intensive course takes place over a period of a few weekends , and trains the student in the theory and practical required to use the instruments and make critical choices that directly affect the patient. This course has a pre-requisite of two years of membership of the Brigade, combined with regular attendance at public duties. This is in place to keep the skills our members have learned, fresh in their minds. We have raised the bar in the standard of care that we can deliver to the public and we will continue to do so.

St John Ambulance, Cork City, have not stopped at that. After much hard work by our colleagues in the Training and Education Department in St John Ambulance Dublin, the Brigade now has the ability to begin teaching its most experienced members the next step up from Emergency First Responder(EFR); namely Emergency Medical Technician. This course is far more intense than an EFR course. The candidate learns a lot more about the use of more advanced instruments such as manual defibrillators, ECG devices for determining heart rhythm, and the administering of certain medications for certain emergencies. It is a milestone in our organisations history, and we hope to have our first class completed within a matter of weeks.

We at St John Ambulance Cork, are proud to be able to provide one of the best services in the country. We welcome all requests to join, in this exciting time. Please go to the following section of the website for membership enquiries.