Community Stories
Going above and beyond
All our volunteer therapy dogs are hard-working, loving, caring, and of course, adorable! While all eyes are understandably on them, behind their loving and adorable ways, their handlers are the driving force that makes their work in the program possible. A great example of this force is Gerry, who runs the Surrey/Delta/Langley therapy dog program unit! She contributes countless volunteer hours running this unit, which holds the largest number of volunteers in a unit with over 126 handlers and dogs.
In this last year, Gerry has taken on coordinating and organizing all the child evaluations for the Fraser Valley and much of the Lower Mainland. This has grown the amount of dogs that are able to participate in Paws 4 Stories by 50 per cent, meaning 147 dogs are now evaluated to visit specifically with children! All this year, and every year, Gerry, along with her team, excels at special events, attending an average of four events a month where they bring awareness and support donations to the program. Gerry also engages with the Cadet Program, making sure to incorporate opportunities for our youth volunteers to get hours during child evaluations.
Outside of all the work above, Gerry also maintains regular and ongoing visits to facilities across Metro Vancouver, like the YVR Airport, with her volunteer therapy dog Bailey to create smiles and spread comfort to those who need it most. Bailey himself has over 700 visiting hours and is a shining example of a therapy dog, always showing love and charm as well as eagerness to meet new people.
Together, this volunteer duo have created a true sense of volunteerism and joy.
Hidden heroes near you
Our Medical First Responder Program sees volunteers at local events, sports games, gatherings and more to provide first aid service to ensure attendees are always safe from injuries and possible emergencies. They volunteer at some of the biggest events in the province, looking after hundreds of people who need their kind and trusting care. Every week they put in numerous hours within their local town or city, always ready and equipped to ensure everyone stays safe and happy, while also spreading the importance of first aid wherever they go! Outside of providing their first aid skills, the MFR program also allows volunteers to get more involved in their community and create lasting memorable connections.
A role model at any age
They say age is just a number, and this applies to volunteering too! No matter your age, you can make a difference. Our youth particularly have incredible abilities to undertake important responsibilities and leadership roles. Isaac, a volunteer in our Youth Program proves this with every volunteer shift he does!
Isaac, now 11, has been a part of our youth program in the Richmond division since September 2016, joining when he was around eight years old! Since joining, he has proven himself to be a role model for all volunteers to come. No matter what event or service he volunteers at, he jumps in to assist with every area, even if it’s outside of his own program responsibilities. Each year, the youth program allows Isaac to take part in important first aid and emergency response training. He goes on leadership camp trips, field trips, first aid competitions, all as a way to encourage community participation and to empower him and his fellow volunteers to grow into community leaders.
For this year, Isaac has attended those community trips as well as help in numerous events held by St. John Ambulance’s provincial team on his own time. Most recently, he represented the Youth Program independently at an AED unveiling event in Vancouver. At this event he helped take questions from the public, supported donations for not just the youth program but all of our charitable programs, helped spread awareness and sell our safety products and classes and even trained numerous members of the public in the lifesaving skills of CPR and AED use. Whenever Isaac volunteers, he proves himself to be an eager, attentive and knowledgeable team player who shows true initiative.
Meet our volunteers,
In December 2016, Health Emergency Management BC reached out to St. John Ambulance to ask for help in saving lives suffering from the Opioid Overdose Crisis. SJA deployed volunteers to add capacity to the Downtown East Side and Surrey 135a and during this time we trained 100 SJA Medical First Responder Volunteers on Naloxone administration. SJA-BCY, in partnership with the BC Centre for Disease Control and with endorsement from the Provincial Health Officer, developed an education and training course to teach people how to administer Naloxone and provide artificial respiration and connected with community partners to have volunteer Medical First Responders Services support the overdose response measures in place.
Our volunteers added capacity to the Health Authority's response in supporting efforts on 135a Street's "Tent City" from December 2016-June 2018, when the "Tent City' was disbanded in a multi-day activity that saw the homeless moved to supported housing and temporary shelters. During this time, SJA volunteers provided medical first response services to both city/health authority staff and the clients being moved and housed in an unprecedented level of activity and engagement by our volunteers.
As of the June 2018 our volunteers have intervened in 134 suspected opioid overdoses and saved the life each of those 134 people who overdosed on 135a Street in Surrey, BC.
Jacob Lee joined this initiative from the beginning in Dec. 2016 and took over in a leadership capacity in the spring of 2017, when he was just 17 years old. He led this initiative and was the point of contact for both outreach charities directly supporting the homeless and Fraser Health Authority. He scheduled volunteers and ensured that SJA had presence "on the Surrey strip," as it is known, for 18 consecutive months.
Jacob himself used Naloxone and Artificial Respiration to reverse an incredible 87 opioid overdoses - that means that there are 87 families who have Jacob to thank for their loved one waking up from an overdose.
He did so outdoors in every kind of weather, rain or shine, morning, noon and night in an environment that was challenging. It is unlikely that there is another SJA volunteer who has saved more lives in his SJA uniform and for this reason he is more than deserving of our Life Saving Award - Gold.
Sending a BIG thank you to our volunteers Eva and Garfield, who are Medical First Responders with our Burnaby Division, for being on duty all weekend at Canada's National Rowing Championships at Burnaby Lake. They kept over 200 rowers safe! ❤️
Emily, one of our therapy dogs, is SO cute 🐶
In partnership with BC Children's Hospital Foundation, our volunteer therapy dogs and handlers visit the hospital to create moments of joy for those in need of emotional support.
Sending a huge congratulations to Vice-Regal Canine Consort MacDuff Austin-Chester for passing his Therapy Dog Evaluation and becoming an Ambassador for St. John Ambulance! ❤️ Thank you to The Honourable Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia for visiting.
