About the Team
The University of Guelph First Response Team is a student-run, non profit team of volunteers, and a division of St. John Ambulance. We provide on-call and special event coverage to the University of Guelph community and its visitors in the form of emergency first-aid services.
During the Fall and Winter semesters, we provide service to the campus every week night from 5 PM to 8 AM, and 24 hours a day on weekends. Help is seldom more than a few minutes away.
We operate under the directive of the Campus Community Police and Fire Prevention. In the event of any on campus medical emergency, call extension 2000 from any campus phone.
Our mission statement
The following statements describe the mission and future direction of the University of Guelph First Response Team:
To provide effective, efficient, compassionate and professional basic life support and first aid care to the University of Guelph community and visitors to the university. The First Response Team's services will be provided to a minimum standard of St. John Ambulance Medical First Responder.
To treat all members of the University community without discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, or place of origin. To follow the guidelines of the University of Guelph's Sexual and Gender Harassment Policy and Procedure.
To maintain and continually improve relations with local Emergency Medical Services, both on and off campus. To be sensitive to and adapt its training and resources to meet the growing and changing needs of the university community.
To uphold the mandate of St. John Ambulance: pro utilitate hominum (for the service of others).
The First Response Team will achieve its mandate by continually maintaining and upgrading its standards and qualifications wherever possible and by using training and certification from recognized, existing emergency medical services and organizations. The First Response Team's association with St. John Ambulance provides excellent and reliable resources to uphold this mission statement.
Team History
The University of Guelph First Response Team was founded in the early 1990's by Jan Trumble and her colleagues; since then it has been a 100% student volunteer-operated organization. The First Response Team was modelled after similar teams operating at McMaster University, Lakehead University, Trent University and the University of Western Ontario.
The team at Guelph was first implemented as a support service for intramural activities within the Department of Athletics. Over the years, the team has also provided first aid at numerous special events, such as Homecoming and College Royal. Just as importantly, it has provided many students with an opportunity for community involvement, advanced training, experience, and the development of leadership skills.
Team Historic Timeline
In October of 1988 a group of concerned students formed the "Bandaid Club" in order to raise first aid awareness on campus. Over the next three years discussions between students and various departments of the University's Administration culminated in the creation of First Aid Response in February of 1991. The original mandate of the team was to begin operations as a backup to emergency services available at extension 2000 on campus. The UofG FAR covered all pre-scheduled intramural games and special events as requested. In the spring of 1995 a delegation from the team attended the first annual Provincial Emergency Response Team Conference at McMaster University, and that September it also began its affiliation with the university's Security Services.
In January of 1996, the team became a division of St. John Ambulance, and set new training standards at the Brigade Training System level I. The following fall, the team officially changed its name from the University of Guelph First Aid Response to the University of Guelph First Response Team. 1996 also saw the creation of the Association of Campus Emergency Response Teams (ACERT), which is a federally incorporated, charitable organization in place to support, promote, and advocate emergency care on Canadian post-secondary campuses.
Starting in January of 1997, the team began to resemble what it is today when it started its on-call service to the university. Under this system, the U of G First Response Team is part of the tiered response structure in place on campus, and responds to all medical emergencies. In 1998 this service was expanded to also include coverage of campus residences. The following year the team was awarded the John F. Bassett award, the top St. John Ambulance divisional award in Ontario. The following spring, February of 1999, Guelph also hosted the National Conference of Campus Emergency Responders (NCCER), which the annual provincial conference had grown into with the creation of ACERT.
Starting in the spring of 1999, the team finally secured baseline funding through a student levy. Until this point all funding for the team had come through donations and awards, both public and private. In a campus-wide referendum, University of Guelph students agreed to pay $0.61 per student, per semester. This results in a yearly budget of around $17000, depending on enrolment. The next fall Guelph FRT hosted the first annual ACERT Mixer, an event designed to give members of campus response teams a chance to try competing, judging First Aid competitions, or performing the casualty simulation that is needed for competitions to take place.
In 2007 the team was awarded the Eric Snow Trophy by the St. John Ambulance Ontario Council. This is given to the SJA brigade with the second highest number of volunteer hours. When awarded, each member on the team averaged 520 volunteer hours for the year.