St. John Ambulance India is the

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

and

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

wing of the

Indian Red Cross Society The Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) is a voluntary humanitarian organization to protect human life and health based in India. It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and shares the Fundamental Principles of the Inte ...

. It arose as the local

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n branch of the international

St. John Ambulance St John Ambulance is an affiliated movement of charitable organisations in mostly Commonwealth countries which provide first aid education and consumables and emergency medical services. St John organisations are primarily staffed by volunte ...

movement headquartered in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, but in the years since Indian independence it has severed official links with the

Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. It has its national headquarters in Delhi and operates as a federation. There are two operational wings often called the Association Wing (which delivers first aid training) and the Brigade Wing (which delivers First Aid at public events). St John Ambulance India is made up of: 23 State centres, 9 railway centres, 3 Union centres and over 670 regional, district and local centres of the Association. 29 districts comprising over 2,400 divisions and corps where St John volunteers are trained to deliver First Aid. Primarily, St John Ambulance India delivers First Aid training and in 2010, St John India trained a total of 229,372 adults in First Aid as well as 2,593 children and young people and treated a total of 216,697 patients throughout the year.

Background

Surgeon-Major

William George Nicholas Manley Surgeon General William George Nicholas Manley, (17 December 1831 – 16 November 1901) was a British Army officer, surgeon and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to ...

of the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

established St John Ambulance in 1873. In 1912, the St John Ambulance Association was granted autonomy and the Council was created. The first Nursing division was established in 1913 and the first Cadet division in 1925. Prior to 1934, St John Ambulance and the Indian Red Cross maintained separate identities although they undertook joint relief work. The two organisations became affiliated in 1934 to ensure harmonious relations between the two bodies, to avoid overlapping and to ensure that ambulance work was given its rightful place in conjunction with Red Cross responsibilities. At independence, the Indian St John Council was granted entire control over the work that was being carried out in 526 divisions. St. John Ambulance (Parsi Ambulance Division) was first started in Bombay in 1902. St. John Ambulance activities started in Calcutta around 1905 and 1910. St. John Ambulance National Activities started in 1912. In Bengal, when St. John Ambulance activities started, it had its units in all the districts of Bengal (including East Bengal, now Bangladesh).

References

External links

St. John Ambulance India, website

St. John Ambulance - Maharashtra State Centre, website
{{St John Ambulance Organisations based in Delhi St John Ambulance Ambulance services in India