About us

Experience-based programs

Rarely had citizen First Aid had been rendered before my ambulance arrived on scene. Often, simple First Aid actions, like bleeding control or putting the victim in the recovery position could have made a significant difference. These experiences led me to become a First Aid instructor, way back in 1993, with the National Safety Council. Several years later, changes in the National Safety Council program no longer qualified it for certification in Ontario. So I created my own First Aid Training course, and was accredited by the Workers Compensation Board, the forerunner of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

Giving CPR to a man on the ground
Woman calling 911 as a coworker is injured

"From the outset, I was determined to make First Aid Training as realistic as possible."

This quest for realism led to two training innovations:

1) Creating scenarios on the shop floor and 2) using theatrical blood and injuries to create the feeling of really responding to a medical emergency.

Conducting First Aid training in the workplace, I noticed that although the First Aid Kits complied with Regulation 1101, they were poorly stocked. Many times these kits contained items that should never be in a workplace First Aid Kit, such as medications. More often than not the kits were almost empty and stained with dirt and blood.

A passion to Serve

As my experience in workplace First Aid grew, I came to the conclusion that great training and well designed/equipped First Aid Kits was not enough. The answer is a Comprehensive First Aid Strategy, which prepares workplace First Aid Teams to respond to real emergencies with skill and confidence.

Recently we created two new programs:

  1. Control the Bleed Canada which deals with techniques to control catastrophic, life-threatening bleeding emergencies
  2. Active Shooter/Attacker, which prepares organizations, and trains individuals to survive a violent attack at work, houses of worship, educational facilities and retail environments.

Emergmart Response Systems, Inc. is dedicated to provide high-quality emergency training and equipment with the simple goal of Saving Life, Reducing Suffering and Promoting Healing.

Mike H Ichelson, EMCA
President and Founder

A deep cut in someones leg

Inspired By
Dr. R Adams Cowley

One man, driven by a passion to save lives, forever changed the practice of emergency medicine throughout the world. As a young cardiac surgeon with the United States Army in Europe at the end of World War II, he was astounded to see soldiers with critical injuries wheeled into an operating room and survive their surgery. But then, in three or four weeks, these same soldiers died.   

How did these soldiers survive the initial surgery and why did they die a few weeks later? The answer is shocking. Back in the States, Dr. Cowley created a two-bed trauma research project funded by the U.S. army at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore. It was there that he discovered the critical factors in saving the lives of trauma victims: time and fighting shock. More specifically, if the victim of trauma could be under a surgeon’s knife within 60 minutes of the time of injury, there was an 85% chance of saving them. He called this crucial time period The Golden Hour.

He trained ambulance drivers to become paramedics, trained surgeons to become emergentologists, created the world’s first Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, was instrumental in helicopter transport of the injured with the Maryland State Police, created the first state-wide EMS System, was a pioneer in hyperbaric medicine, and invented the cardiac pacemaker. 

That small, two-bed trauma research project, has spawned an international network of Shock-Trauma Centers, staffed 24/7, ready within minutes to provide immediate life-saving measures from the street to the surgical suite, and nurse patients back to health.

Code Eight emergency training programs are based on Dr. Cowley’s Golden Hour, because it is the First Aider that controls those first, precious, 60 minutes. When the right training, the right kit and the right plan are in place, victims of sudden illness and injury have a fighting chance of survival and recovery. 

“If I can get to you within 60 minutes of your accident, and stop your bleeding, and restore your blood pressure, I will probably save your life” - Dr. R Adams Cowley.

What sets us apart

With over 25 years of experience, Code 8 Division of Emergmart Response Systems, Inc. is the leader in helping workplaces and other organizations develop a Comprehensive First Aid Strategy. Providing meaningful emergency care until paramedics arrive is much more than getting a First Aid certificate and purchasing a First Aid kit.

As a WSIB accredited First Aid Training provider our program is recognized in the province of Ontario. Our realistic training uses theatrical blood and injuries to prepare First Aiders to respond with confidence.

And, as the holder of a Medical Device Establishment License, we are held to a higher standard by Health Canada. Our paramedic designed First Aid kits are far above the industry standard, giving the First Aider the tools they need to provide excellent care.

Designing and implementing a Comprehensive First Aid Strategy provides a detailed process to ensure that the First Aid Team is quickly notified of a medical emergency, First Aid kits are fully stocked and readily available and that the entire organization will concentrate necessary resources to save a life, reduce suffering and promote healing.

hEALTH cANADA
 Medical Device Establishment License
 7319