Have you ever thought about becoming a First Responder?  Do you know what a First Responder is, or does? 

     A First Responder is someone who is trained with knowledge and skills to respond to situations that arise in your community.  When an ambulance is called, sometimes it may take some extra time to get to your community, depending on distance, weather, etc., so First Responders are called to respond first to attend to patients while the ambulance is responding. 

    First Responders also help ambulance personnel when needed, for example...during car accidents, or multiple casualty incidents.  If an ambulance is not located in your community or near by, First Responders are paramount in ensuring help is near by.

     ITLS courses give the student the knowledge and hands-on skills to take better care of trauma patients. ITLS stresses rapid assessment, appropriate intervention and identification of immediate life threats. The ITLS framework for rapid, appropriate and effective trauma care is a global standard that works in any situation.

     ITLS courses combine classroom learning and hands-on skills stations. They also challenge the student with scenario assessment stations where learning is put to work in simulated trauma situations. ITLS courses are designed, managed and delivered by course directors, coordinators and instructors experienced in EMS, prehospital care and the ITLS approach.

     Each ITLS course includes a comprehensive manual sent to the student in advance. The manual enhances learning experience with in-depth content, photos and illustrations. ITLS manuals are written by trauma care experts and edited by the ITLS Editorial Board. After the course, the student can refer to the manual as a valuable recap of what has been learned.  

Contact Spiritwood Ambulance Care for the next available course!

Spiritwood-Big River Ambulance offers a Medical Stand-by Service to anyone, group, or company that requires a staffed ambulance to attend any event or function like, rodeos, festivals, hockey tournaments, etc.

      Sometimes event planners want an ambulance on site of events to be readily available in case of injury or illness when large populations of people gather, or contact sports are played.

     We offer two types of Stand-bys to the public...

1) Non-Dedicated Stand-by _ a volunteer, no-cost, stand-by where the ambulance will attend your event and stay as long as they can, but if an emergency call is received, then the ambulance may have to leave, but will return when finished the call.

2) Dedicated Stand-by _ a non-volunteer, dedicated stand-by that has a cost for the staffed ambulance to attend to your event.  The ambulance will not leave your event and stay until the event is finished.  If you require this type of stand-by, please contact us for further information and costs, as they vary. 

     Caught off guard and "numb" from the impact of a critical incident, individuals and communities are often ill-equipped to handle the chaos of such a catastrophic situation. Consequently, survivors often struggle to regain control of their lives as friends, family, and loved ones may be unaccounted for or are found critically injured, lay dying or are already dead. Additionally, the countless others who have been traumatized by the critical event may eventually need professional attention and care for weeks, months and possibly years to come.

     The final extent of any traumatic situation may never be known or realistically estimated in terms of trauma, loss and grief. In the aftermath of any critical incident, psychological reactions are quite common and are fairly predictable. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) can be a valuable tool following a traumatic event.