St John (Qld) launches bi-lingual first aid courses

The benefits of learning in one’s first language are well documented in bi-lingual societies, and St John (Qld) has jumped on the bandwagon. A new innovation for 2010 has been the commencement of first aid classes conducted in a combination of Mandarin and English. 

St John (Qld) Trainer and FAS member Joy Brown has conducted very successful public classes at St John House.  Joy has also taught industry courses with the Tzu Chi Foundation and given awareness talks at Chung Tian Buddhist Temple. She has also trained the Chinese herbal medicine association members in many first aid courses.

Joy worked as a medical doctor in China for over 12 years. In Australia Joy works as a Acupuncturist and with Chinese herbal medicine and is also a massage therapist. She as a massage therapist in Sydney Olympics 2000 at the Homebush Aquatic Centre and Olympic Village. In addition, Joy was Vice-President of CMASA 2005-2009 (Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Society of Australia) and the QLD Branch President of CMASA 2005-2009.

This training has proved to be of great benefit to the Chinese community; many Chinese participants who have previously gained their first aid certificate through an English speaking class have reported that they felt more confident with their first aid skills having done the course in Mandarin.

Joy is a competent bi-lingual speaker, and uses a combination of English and Mandarin to teach her classes.

“The course ensures Mandarin speakers have confidence in their first aid skills. This contributes to better management of first aid situations,” Joy said.

If you know of anyone who would benefit from a first aid course in Mandarin please contact Joy at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or on 0403 051 536.