Article posted on October 22, 2024
MFR program recognized by the Canadian Red Cross
The AHS EMS Medical First Response (MFR) program was honoured recently for its role in facilitating medical training in Alberta.
“We received the 2023 Red Cross Top Three National In-House Training Award by the Canadian Red Cross,” said John Hein, strategist for the MFR program. “It’s the first award of its kind to be offered by The Canadian Red Cross and to receive Top Three National Recognition is a remarkable accomplishment. It speaks to the hard work that medical first responder agencies are doing to ensure that their members receive as much medical training as possible to meet the needs of their communities. I’m delighted that we can be part of the process to develop the tools needed to achieve this.”
The MFR program has participated in various ways throughout the years to increase medical training to all corners of the province.
“In 2017 AHS EMS opened a contract with Red Cross to use their training platform to teach their courses to our MFR Partners. With this we began training instructors to teach standard first aid who in turn would teach fire department members,” Hein explained.
Some of those instructors trained in the early days of the MFR program have gone on to achieve higher levels of instructor certification, and are now teaching advanced first aid, basic life support and health care provider-level courses. The program has evolved over the years, and now the MFR program supports training in other ways.
“To assist with the cost of training delivery, AHS covers the administrative cost per student by paying Red Cross for each class that is completed. We also assist the instructors with their renewal training and registration costs,” said Hein.
The MFR program also administers annual funding which can be used to cover the cost of developing new instructors and for the medical training of MFR members up to the primary care paramedic scope.
“This recognition from the Canadian Red Cross highlights one of the training supports available to MFR partners and prepares first responders to provide basic life-saving interventions. We are grateful for the opportunity to share this prestigious award with our partners across the province,” said Blaine Barody, manager for the MFR program. “John recently celebrated 38 years of service in EMS, and his work with the Red Cross has been foundational in the development of the MFR program.”
From left: Blaine Barody, MFR program manager, John Hein, MFR strategist, Fallyn Forrest, Alberta account manager with the Red Cross, and Mike Holley, Rocky View Fire.
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 22, 2024