While many people are attracted to a charity because of its efficiency, St John Ambulance Brigade Commissioner Stephen Gunn first joined the organisation with the view to improving things.The Brigade provides an ambulance and volunteers at community events such as harness pony or motocross racing. It also provides first aid courses for the community. At times, they are called out to help with emergencies, such road traffic accidents.“In 2005, a police officer died suddenly while playing football,” said Mr Gunn. “He had a heart attack. I am a police officer by trade, and I was assigned as the coroner’s officer. I had to investigate what had happened. Rarely do any charges get brought out in these situations. During my investigation I found that two of the St John Ambulance volunteers who were there on the scene that day were new. They had never had to perform CPR before. They did it to the best of their ability, but there were a few things that could have been done differently, specifically with the call that went to the hospital. The hospital came out not expecting a cardiac arrest.”In his report he mentioned issues that needed to be addressed, but the incident really bothered him.“I sat at home and talked with my wife about it,” he said. “We agreed that you can either complain and make someone else fix it, or you can get involved and see if you can help fix it yourself. I joined St John Ambulance from that point. In 2009, I was asked to take the position of Commissioner. I have my instructor’s certification. I decided I wanted to make a difference with St John Ambulance and I think I have. We have come a long way.”It seems that things have improved greatly with the charity. This year, standards were raised when almost 50 volunteers including four police officers, graduated from an advanced level medic first responder (MFR) course. MFR courses, which are internationally recognised, are offered at three levels, 25, 40 and 60 hours. The volunteers spent two weekends taking the 40-hour course.“In 2005 and 2009 we put on the MFR 25-hour course and trained close to 20 people,” said Mr Gunn. “That was a lot of work for us, but we have been looking at the different liabilities and lawsuits that have been taking place in Canada and the United States. Canada had developed their system where everyone is trained to the 40-hour level to decrease the chance of liabilities. We decided to fall in line with that and for the first time we have put everyone in the organisation through the 40-hour course.“The 40-hour course introduces them to advanced anatomy and physiology, advanced airway management, backboarding, and oxygen administration,” said Commissioner Gunn. “The practicals at this level and are more difficult and we throw more at them.”All medics who work on a St John ambulance will be required to have the MFR certification. St John Ambulance will continue to teach basic CPR to the community, but not to their volunteers.One of the youngest volunteers to take the advanced course was 17-year-old Berkeley Institute student, Jahkhari Woods.“I joined St John Ambulance because I saw them in the community at work,” said Jahkhari. “I have an interest in that type of career, so I joined to gain experience. I am looking at the nursing course at the Bermuda College.”He decided to go into medicine after losing both his parents at an early age. His mother, Joanne Woods, a nurse, died when he was just seven-years-old from an infection related to diabetes. His father Aliston, died when he was aged 13 from a stroke.“After seeing my father get sick and be flown away to a hospital in the United States, that pushed me even further toward the medical field,” said Jahkhari. “Those experiences made me want to get out there and help people.”He said it was a tough course, and he had to do a lot of studying. He struggled a bit with the physiology of the body, but he made it through.Miguel Estrella, 21 and a volunteer for three years, said his original reasons for joining St John Ambulance weren’t particularly noble; he wanted a deferral from the Bermuda Regiment. But when he got involved he found he really enjoyed being a part of the group. He is now in his third year with the charity. He will have done the equivalent of the Bermuda Regiment in August, but he plans to keep volunteering with St John.“It sparked something in me,” he said. “I didn’t want to be the person where if something happened I was running away with the crowd. I wanted to be the one to help. There were some incidences in my life where I was the one crying and running away. I am interested in doing something like this as a career,.“It has caught my interest. Now that I understand what happens and why it happens, it has caused me to learn more instead of run away screaming.”Mr Estrella said like a lot of new volunteers, his first experience with a real emergency did not go quite as he would have liked.“There was this one time at motocross that a young boy had hit the jump on the wrong angle,” said Mr Estrella. “He flopped off his bike into the ditch. We saw the flag up and went there in the ambulance, but when we got there he was non-responsive. I just saw him lying there and thought this little kid is dead.”Mr Estrella froze, a common reaction for people new to crisis intervention. Another medic working on the scene shook Mr Estrella and pulled him back to reality.“I just got back into the groove and was able to help,” he said. “I have gotten to the point now where if something happens, I just know I have to deal with what is happening, and then afterwards sit and think about it.”Mr Gunn said even the most advanced medics still get affected by specific incidences, especially when children are involved.“It doesn’t matter how experienced you are or how much training you have had, it breaks you inside to see a child hurt,” he said.Sometimes people trained to respond in a crisis can seem to the general public cool, calm and unaffected by circumstances as they work to help someone, they sometimes come away from the experience traumatised or shaken.“When dealing with the aftermath of an injury, St John Ambulance has now started a Crisis Intervention Management (CISM) programme,” said Mr Gunn.“We are having officers within St John trained to be on call if something happens. Currently, we are using government and hospital CISM officers.”These CISM officers help the volunteers to deal with what they have witnessed and felt during a situation.Mr Estrella and Mr Woods are both team leaders for a new youth programme at St John Ambulance for students ages ten to 16. It was recently reinstated after a six-year hiatus. Fifteen students meet every Saturday at St John Ambulance Brigade headquarters to learn first aid and other important emergency skills.If you are interested in joining St John Ambulance, go to their headquarters at 21 Point Finger Road and fill out an application. After the application is filled out, the applicant will be interviewed. For more information telephone 236-7831 or email info[AT]sjabermuda.org . They also have a website at www.sjabermuda.org.