NEW YORK CITY — An alliance between the American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI) and St. John Ambulance Canada, dedicated to global life-saving solutions including CPR, first aid and automated external defibrillation (AED), is being formally announced today at a reception at the United Nations.
The alliance between U.S.-based ASHI and U.K.-based St. John will provide seamless, cost-effective health and safety services to businesses and consumers throughout the U.S., Canada and worldwide. The combined resources and expertise of the two organizations will offer an extensive selection of research-based training programs and products to create a safe environment at work, at home and in the community.
ASHI is the fastest growing training accreditation organization in the United States. As the value leader in the first aid, CPR and AED training industry, ASHI offers training and certification programs in emergency care and occupational safety and health for corporate America, government agencies and emergency responders. St. John is an international nonprofit training organization and one of the oldest humanitarian organizations (more than 900 years) in the world, whose name is synonymous with community service and emergency care on all continents.
“St. John is a highly respected international organization that has been reaching out to provide community service and exceptional training programs for an extraordinary number of years,” said Frank Swiger, ASHI’s executive business director. “We are very pleased to have this opportunity to join with St. John in offering some of the very best life-saving training methods found anywhere in the world, in an affordable, customer-friendly manner. Together, we have a world of experience that will have a dramatic impact on Americans’ health and emergency care.”
With more than 6,500 training facilities across the United States and Canada and another 7,000 facilities outside North America, the ASHI-St. John alliance creates a global network of more than 85,000 professional health and safety educators, offering training in the classroom and online. Nationally and internationally recognized programs include custom workplace training and instructor certification in Basic First Aid, CPR/AED, Bloodborne Pathogens, Emergency Oxygen, First Responder, Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
“This decision to enter the U.S. market is a milestone for an organization such as St. John, with our long and noteworthy history,” said René Marin, chancellor, St. John Ambulance Canada. “In ASHI, we have chosen to align ourselves with an excellent industry partner, enabling this new alliance to train many more people and save more lives than either organization can do on its own.”
The alliance announcement comes as recently revised consensus training guidelines for first aid and CPR have been released. The new guidelines improve methods for life-saving procedures applied to emergency victims, including new protocols for bleeding and poison control. “With the changes in the first aid and CPR training guidelines, we believe the timing of this new alliance is ideal, as we are able to jointly introduce enhancements to our curriculum exactly when people are looking for the next generation of training,” Swiger said.
Both organizations service numerous high-profile clients within their respective regions. The new alliance partners’ first joint client is Linens ‘n Things, an existing St. John client in Canada. Linens ‘n Things, which has more than 400 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, will begin rolling out its new U.S. safety programs soon, starting with employees in Washington state and then moving to other U.S. stores located throughout 47 states.
As part of its specific charter, the ASHI/St. John collaboration will provide support to the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem, a center of excellence in ophthalmic medicine and education that provides the highest quality of care to individuals in the region. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of co-branded products will be donated to the Eye Hospital, which serves more than 5,000 individuals annually, including many underprivileged children from remote villages of the West Bank.
St. John is involved in humanitarian causes around the world, including aiding victims of Hurricane Katrina with its contribution of medical supplies to disaster areas in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross as well as its involvement in the “Canadaville” housing development in Louisiana that is providing new homes for more than 50 hurricane-displaced families.
Joined by U.S. and Canadian dignitaries, ASHI and St. John leaders will make the formal announcement of the alliance at a 6 p.m. reception today at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Media are invited to attend.
About American Safety & Health Institute
ASHI is an association of professional safety and health educators focusing on excellence in education in the areas of CPR, AED, first aid, workplace safety/disaster preparedness, rescue and wilderness survival skills, among others, while successfully targeting all areas of safety and health, helping to educate the lay public and emergency service professionals alike.
Its mission is to continually improve safety and health education by promoting high standards for members, principles of sound research for curriculum development and the professional development of safety and health instructors worldwide. To learn more about ASHI, visit www.ashinstitute.org.
About St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance is Canada’s leading provider of first aid and related training and community services, present in communities from coast-to-coast. SJA utilizes innovative first aid instruction and techniques and engaging lessons that provide its students with critical life-saving skills. As a registered charity, St. John Ambulance touches the lives of millions of Canadians every year, helping to prevent unnecessary death, disability and suffering, and provides caring services to communities.
St. John Ambulance is a 906-year-old international humanitarian organization present in more than 39 countries worldwide. For more information about St. John Ambulance, visit www.sja.ca.