1. With support from Australian
Volunteers, Red Cross societies
are using first aid not only to
save lives but enable greater
financial sustainability.
Rolling plains, rugged mountain
ranges, tiny isolated islands. Mongolia,
Timor-Leste and Vanuatu may look
vastly different, but what they have
in common is their many remote
communities with limited access to
healthcare facilities. In these places,
first aid can mean the difference
between life or death: the ability
to recognise the symptoms of a
heart attack, for example, or to treat
burns, cuts and other wounds before
irreparable damage is done.
First aid has long been a priority for
national Red Cross societies, usually
delivered in combination with disaster
preparedness and health promotion
programs. These programs require
funding, especially to access more
remote communities where the needs
are acute. Without a sustainable
funding base, these programs – which
reach thousands of people and
encourage self-driven healthcare – are
at serious risk of ending.
This is why the Australian Volunteers
for International Development
program is supporting national Red
Cross societies to commercialise their
first aid training as a step towards
financial viability. This echoes the
success of Australian Red Cross’ first
aid program, which offers certified
courses to businesses and individual
customers.
For first aid courses to be commercially
viable, they need to be of high
standard, delivered by qualified
trainers and target an appropriate
customer base. AVID assignments in
Mongolia, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu
therefore focus on bringing first aid
courses into line with international
standards, training local first aid
trainers, and strengthening marketing
and customer relations.
australianaidvolunteers.gov.au
Volunteer Jeremy Smith and a young helper demonstrate a bandaging technique for Naranhuu from
Mongolia Red Cross. Australian Red Cross/Mareike Guensche
Case study:
Using first
aid to build a
sustainable
funding base
International
volunteering
Australian Volunteers for
International Development
(AVID) is an Australian
Government initiative to send
volunteers overseas.
The AVID program continues a
tradition of voluntary service for
Australian Red Cross that began
in 1914.
In Mongolia, Timor-Leste and
Vanuatu, the program supports
local humanitarian agencies to
be well-functioning, sustainable,
and capable of responding to
disasters and emergencies across
their countries.

2. Australian Volunteers for International Development
is an Australian Government initiative.
Developing high-quality courses
Two years ago, Mongolia Red Cross
Society’s commercial first aid courses
did not meet international standards:
they were comprised of sections
written at different times and with
little cohesion. Ambulance paramedic
Jeremy Smith has redeveloped the
course curriculum, drawing upon
Australian Red Cross’ first aid training
curriculum, and adapting it to the
Mongolian context. The courses
are more comprehensive and of
international quality.
Vanuatu Red Cross’s health coordinator
Ellis Lee is excited that, with the help
of Australian Volunteer Katherine
Foster, the organisation will gain
national accreditation in commercial
first aid.
Accreditation will be one of two firsts
for Vanuatu Red Cross: “We are also
creating the first ever first aid manual
in Bislama – this will make our training
tools more relevant and streamlined
for beneficiaries and customers that
don’t have English as a first language,”
Ellis reports.
Training the trainers
Timor-Leste Red Cross’s first aid
strategy is twofold: increase the
number of community members
trained in first aid; and strengthen
long-term fundraising. Volunteer
Anne Kennedy has been helping first
aid staff to develop their training
skills and work towards delivering
courses in English, which will open
new opportunities with international
agencies and companies.
Meanwhile at Mongolia Red Cross,
Jeremy and his colleagues are
completing a train-the-trainer program
that will aim to equip the national
society with 10-12 highly professional
commercial trainers. This will also
benefit the community-based first
aid program, with the new trainers
being able to mentor staff in regional
branches.
Marketing for success
Following a wave of advertising
through television, radio, street
banners and brochures, Timor-Leste
Red Cross has seen an increase
in clients for its commercial first
aid training. Clients have included
government departments, businesses
like Timor Plaza and international
organisations such as Oxfam. First aid
manager Mariano de Jesus Perera says
volunteer Anne Kennedy has helped
his team boost their skills in planning,
marketing, financial management and
customer relations.
“Before we used to wait for the
customers to come, now we very
actively promote our training - it’s a big
difference,” he says.
Marketing and customer relations
are also a focus for the program in
Vanuatu. “Katherine has developed
our understanding of marketing (…) we
have executed a marketing plan which
has seen our commercial training turn
a profit,” says Ellis.
In the coming months, the AVID
program will support Mongolia Red
Cross with a business plan targeting
the country’s growing construction and
mining industries.
Expanding
first aid
• Working towards accredited
courses
• Training local first aid trainers
• Training in local languages,
using local examples
• Identifying new markets and
marketing strategies
Sustaining humanitarian work
Commercial first aid is now seen as a
means to fund humanitarian programs
without reliance on international
donors.
“We are seeing our commercial first
aid program as one of our main
financial sources in the future,” says
Madam Bolormaa of Mongolia Red
Cross. Likewise, Vanuatu Red Cross
is using income from commercial
first aid to fund its work with remote
communities. While for Timor-Leste
Red Cross, the commercial first aid
program has grown into the society’s
largest source of fundraising income.
The AVID program aims to support
its partners to be well-functioning
organisations in their own right;
which directly improves the services
provided to their communities. For our
Red Cross partners, commercial first
aid now contributes to a sustainable
funding base for their life-saving
humanitarian work.
December 2014