St John Association of India
Who we are
Surgeon-Major William George Nicholas Manley of the Royal Regiment of Artillery 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.
India at a glance
India, officially the Republic of India, is a sovereign nation in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by geographical area, the second most populous country (1.12 billion in 2007) and the most populous democracy in the world today. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometers. It borders Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia.
India is has the second fastest growing economy in the world and in recent years has been transformed by economic reforms. However despite such growth, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and environmental degradation are still widespread, particularly in rural areas where almost 70% of population reside. It the wide disparity been the rich and poor which ranks India as 122nd in the UN’s Human Development Index.
What we do
St John Ambulance India 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 over 50,000 St John volunteers are trained to deliver First Aid.
Primarily, St John Ambulance India trains First Aid however, there is also training in home nursing, hygiene and sanitation and child welfare.