“Holding ourselves to the highest standards and looking for the best in others, we are faithful to the vision of our founders. Presuming good faith in each other, we hold ourselves and each other to account for high standards of propriety and behaviour, and honour those who do good works.”
Susannah Chow, CEO, St John Hong Kong:
Since its beginnings in 1884, St John Ambulance Hong Kong has remained faithful to the mission and values which guide our work. I have been CEO of St John since 2007. I am proud to lead an organisation which remains as relevant and necessary here as when it began. We have adapted to the changing political, economic and health context in which we deliver our first aid and community healthcare services, but not shifted our focus and commitment to serve our community professionally.
In recent years, the COVID pandemic has had a huge impact in Hong Kong. St John has stepped up to provide care and support to those most in need, in line with the vision of our founders to help the sick and the poor.
Our community-based approach, working with healthcare professionals and volunteers rooted in their local communities, has allowed us to identify and focus on those in greatest need. We understand what is needed and respond quickly.
When the fifth wave of COVID hit Hong Kong in February 2022, there was an alarming rise in deaths of elderly unvaccinated people in residential care homes. St John rapidly mobilised over 250 trained volunteers including doctors, nurses, dentists and first aid trainers to set up vaccination teams. In visits to 49 care homes over the following six months, the teams administered 5,145 vaccine doses, making a huge contribution in suppressing the spread of COVID amongst the most vulnerable.
Between February and June 2022, we also contributed to keeping construction workers safe as they built six mobile cabin hospitals at Hong Kong’s quarantine facilities. Our 840 trained officers and members provided first aid services to ensure that workers had a safe and secure working environment, responding to a new and urgent need.
First Aid has always been at the heart of our activity in Hong Kong, and we have worked hard to ensure that we are able to continue to deliver the high-quality professional training which has defined St John Ambulance Hong Kong for nearly 150 years. With continuing restrictions in place in 2022, we pivoted to a blended learning model. Online theory and face to face practical sessions were delivered in Cantonese to nearly 11,000 students in 2022 equipping them to provide lifesaving First Aid. We will be offering the same course in English and Putonghua in 2023.
You can read more about how we as #OneStJohn lived our values in our everyday work in 2022 by reading our new Annual Report.
