The St John Association of Mauritius
Who we are
St John Mauritius was officially launched on 22nd March 1947. Dr. Jocelyn Maingard de Ville-es-Offrans, the Chief Police Medical Officer at the time, set up the first unit of St John Ambulance in the country and an announcement was published in the Government Gazette under General Notice 238 of 1947.
First Aid courses were organized for the officers of the Police Force, Fire Services, Prison Department and the Government Railways. In order to encourage qualified First Aiders to join St John Ambulance, a monthly allowance was provided as an incentive. Mr. Hadow, the Commissioner of Police, was the first Commissioner of St John Ambulance in Mauritius.
In the early 1960’s, Mr. Guy Ohis, a science teacher, started the teaching of First Aid to the students of the Royal College and set up the first cadet division at the college. He then extended the teaching of First Aid to the general public and to the students of other colleges and so spread the organization all over the island. Mr. McCaffery succeeded Mr. Hadow as Commissioner of Police and was also appointed as Commissioner of St John Ambulance until 1969 when Mr. Guy Ohis took over.
As the organization increased in size and First Aid services were more and more solicited from private and public sectors, it became necessary to formalize its structure legally. Thus St John Ambulance Mauritius was incorporated under the Act of Parliament No.35 of 1980 and the St John Council became the policy making body. St John Mauritius was from that time a fully independent national Association.
The President of the Council is the Head of State. The Council consists of 16 members, recruited from the general public for their expertise and particular skills. Council members and the Chairman are appointed for a period of 3 years.
Mauritius at a glance
Land of rainbows, waterfalls and shooting stars, Mauritius is situated in the south west of the Indian Ocean, off the south east coast of Africa and about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar. The country which includes the islands of Rodrigues, Agalega, and Chagos has a total area of 2,040 sq km.
After a brief Dutch settlement, French immigrants arrived in 1715 and named the island ‘ Ilse de France ‘ They established the first road and harbour infrastructure as well as the sugar industry under the leadership of Governor Mahe de Labourdonnais. Immigrants from Africa and Madagascar were brought as slaves to work in the sugarcane fields.
In 1810, the British captured the island following the battle of Grandport and in 1814, through the Treaty of Paris, Mauritius and its dependencies were ceded to Great Britain.
The Indian and Chinese immigration which followed the abolition of slavery in 1835 rapidly changed the fabric of Mauritian society and the country flourished through increased cultivation of sugarcane.
Today Mauritius is a multi-national country. Its population numbers about 1,250,000 consisting of Hindus, Creoles, Europeans, Muslims and Sino Mauritians. English is the official language and both the government and the education systems are patterned on the British model.
Mauritius became Independent on March 12, 1968 and a Republic within the Commonwealth in March 1992. The capital and the largest city is Port Louis.
Mauritius has a cosmopolitan culture. Co-existence among Mauritians of Indian, African, European, Muslim and Chinese ancestry has led to a sharing of cultures and values. With collective participation in festivals and increased understanding between people of different backgrounds, Mauritius is today a unique melting pot of peoples, languages and culture.
The economy of Mauritius has traditionally been dominated by a single cash crop, sugarcane. More than half the cultivated land is planted with sugarcane. In addition to sugarcane, textile production and tourism are the leading industries.
What we do
Training: The main activity of St John Mauritius is the teaching of First Aid to the general public, employees of private firms, hotels, industries, officers of the civil service and students of the University of Mauritius. The following courses are offered:
First Aid Awareness:
- Lifesaver First Aid Course
- First Aid
- First Aid at Work
- Emergency First Aid
Other courses such as Fire Fighting and Road Safety are also organized for the members. All the courses offered by St John Ambulance in Mauritius are approved by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority, the regulatory body, and in 2006 St John Mauritius obtained its accreditation.
Lectures are delivered in three languages, English, French and Creole.
We also arrange instructors’ courses every three years in order to ensure that existing trainers and new recruits have their qualifications re-validated.
Operations: There are 850 members of St John Ambulance spread all over the island. Most of the members are young people. Weekly meetings are held at schools, mainly on Saturdays. Besides First Aid training, members are involved in other youth activities, including the National Youth Award. The main annual events are the First Aid Competition and the Annual Parade when the President takes the salute.
The main events where St John offers First Aid coverage on public occasions are the Maha Shivratee festival (a religious ceremony); independence celebrations, Yaum un Nabi, Easter, Pere Laval, Ganga Asnan. The most important one is the Maha Shivratee when we offer a 24 hour First Aid coverage over 5 days. On that occasion alone, we give First Aid treatment to some 2,000 casualties annually.