Crusaders Join the First Aid Club with St John

Dan Carter and Willi Heinz prepare to practise CPR on a manikin.

MEDIA RELEASE: Crusaders Join the First Aid Club with St John

27 March 2015

Members of the Crusaders have been learning some important new skills – though not on the rugby field.

The Crusaders approached St John to teach members of the team some basic first aid skills.

A player-led initiative, the idea was to teach first aid not for the rugby field, but for their home and family lives.

Dan Carter is one of those who wanted to learn first aid, and he credits fatherhood with giving him a new appreciation of the need for first aid.

“Being a father has made me a lot more aware of whether I would know how to react in a situation where somebody needed first aid assistance,” he says.

Hamish Riach, Crusaders CEO, says he was impressed to hear that it was the players who initiated the first aid course.

"I understand that Dan Carter approached our Personal Development Manager, Mark Ranby, about organising a basic first aid course for some of the players. We pride ourselves at the Crusaders on developing not just great rugby players, but well-rounded individuals.

"This is exactly the sort of additional skills that we'd love our players to have, and the fact that the players requested the training themselves is awesome."

Seema Bhavan, St John Business Development Manager South Island, is delighted St John had the chance to work with the Crusaders’ players this way.

“First aid is a very important skill, and St John is one of the leaders in the community in promoting and teaching it. It’s great to see the Crusaders taking such a proactive role in learning first aid.”

Ms Bhavan says St John trains over 18,000 people in the South Island community in first aid every year. “It’s great to have the Crusaders as part of that. They’ve been involved in rugby for many years; however they’ve now joined a new club of people who are ready to help in an emergency at work or at home.”

Mr Riach says St John is one of the Crusaders' gold charities. “St John do an incredible job of being the first response at rugby games throughout the region, from grassroots through to Super Rugby. “

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