About us

Our Story

We are the Authorities in First Aid Education. Every person on our team is an expert in their field.  We offer the most diverse selection of First Aid Training Courses in Ontario with over 30 specialized courses, including Standard First Aid for beginners, up to Advanced Cardiac Life Support for healthcare professionals.

We provide the necessary training, required skills and confidence needed to save lives, with hands on experience and complete guidance from our team of industry leading educators.

From parents who are looking to elevate their first aid knowledge to first responders in search of a recertification course with the most relevant, up to date procedures in place, we have you covered.

Our Story Behind The Story

From a passion at the age of 16, founder Eric Roy took his first Canadian Red Cross Training Course from a highly knowledgeable instructor, inspiring him down a path that would see the Incorporation of First Aid Plus in 1999.

Hard work and dedication, along with a strong desire to help others, set off the first in a series of accomplishments and fueled a passion that began in Bolton, Ontario.  His journey started with the completion of the Canadian Red Cross First Aid Course with the local volunteer ambulance service and the enrollment in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Armored Crewman Driver. He began to share his knowledge and teach others after moving to Ottawa to attend the Algonquin College Paramedic Program.

Eric began sharing his valuable knowledge with a high-level expertise after completing all of his reserve medical assistant training and began teaching friends and family during his off time. He became a St Johns Ambulance instructor which led to becoming an Instructor Trainer, having taught over 10,000 courses.

The experience, knowledge and skill level that Eric brings to the First Aid Plus Team is unmatched with the addition of continued volunteer work at countless organizations, along with deployment to assist national emergencies such as the BC Wildfires & Gatineau Floods.

Today, Eric is a well respected Healthcare Administrator who continues to share his passion with aspiring First Aid Instructors as a trainer for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, Stop the Bleed, ITLS and the ACT Foundation.

It’s clear that first aid education is vital to our own safety and gives us the ability to help others when in need.  Not only does this lead to a better understanding of what to do in an emergency, but also to raise awareness and reduce the rate of injury.

Eric and the First Aid Plus team are here to offer you an elevated experience, not only with the best equipment to create a real-life learning environment, but with hands-on training, in-depth information, and best practices to apply in many situations at home, work, or in public.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The Crew 

 

Stan Holloway

Stan Holloway

Stan decided to become a Canadian Red Cross Certified Instructor after taking an Advanced Wilderness First Aid Course with First Aid Plus. Since taking the original training he has taught roughly 80 courses and has recently become a certified Wilderness and Remote First Aid Instructor. In addition to teaching first aid, he is also involved in the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association and is responsible for not only for their first aid certification but is also a search and rescue basic trainer.

Whether you are a bus driver, electrician, or outdoorsman, he runs a very detailed, animated, and casual class tailored to your specific activity/working conditions. Stan takes pride in his students who tell him that after taking his classes, that they no longer fear the prospect of doing first aid or CPR but rather embrace the opportunity to save a life, if needed.

 

 

Aleksandra Musial

Aleksandra Musial

AEMCA

Aleksandra is an energetic instructor with First Aid Plus. After being a competitive swimmer since the age of eight, she naturally became a lifeguard and swim instructor in 2001. Years later, an AEMCA certified Paramedic, Aleksandra is also an ITLS, ACLS, PALS, Standard First-Aid and CPR instructor.

When critical emergencies happen, dedicated professionals respond with knowledge and skill to help the individuals involved. Aleksandra believes the most important tool to responding as an effective team is clear communication.

“My greatest passion is responding to emergencies and helping my patient transition through their crisis, no matter what the size! My other great passion, teaching! What better way to keep sharp on my own skills, or to help others, then to teach skills and knowledge that was taught to me.”

With a background in medicine, teaching, tutoring and management, Aleksandra understands that no single approach to learning is the right approach for everyone. She understands that what may be easy to some, may be difficult for others, and so, approaches each classroom setting with an open mind, and a compassionate ear.

“Like on the road, response is a team effort, and so is learning in my classroom.”

 

 

Gerald Eric Ramos
Gerald Eric Ramos

Gerald is a Board-Certified Emergency Nurse and a Trauma Certified Registered Nurse. He spent his entire nursing career in Emergency and Trauma nursing in UAE. He is well known for his educator and leadership skills and is involved in various life support courses from American Heart Association, European Resuscitation Council and TNCC, ATCN for MENA region. Gerald also developed an Ultrasound-guided IV insertion for nurses and give a talk in various region of UAE as a conference speaker.

Currently, he teaches Heart and Stroke Foundation Courses (BLS, ACLS, PALS), ITLS, and Canadian Red Cross courses while waiting for the nursing registration in Ontario. Gerald possesses vast clinical experience and shares this through his leadership and educational roles. Gerald also loves to play videogames and an avid movie fan.

 

 

 

Dr. Elaine Z. Galicia-Connolly
Dr. Elaine Z. Galicia-Connolly

Dr. Elaine is an international medical graduate certified in the Philippines in Pediatrics and Pediatric neurology. She completed an epilepsy fellowship at Sick Kids and complementary/alternative medicine at Stollery Children’s hospital.

She is a certified instructor for the Canadian Red Cross in all levels of first aid training; a certified instructor for ACLS and PALS under the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and currently teaches ITLS courses (adult and pediatric) as well. She joins our team as a seasoned clinician with 20 years of global mission work with a passion for grassroots medicine and global health care, with a goal of using her skills in Northern Communities in Canada.

 

 

 

Natalka Kisil

Natalka Kisil

Natalka is a primary care paramedic who worked in busy Peel Region (Brampton/Mississauga) for 9 years.  A mom and a military spouse, her family moved to Ottawa and she began teaching ACLS, PALS, BLS, First Aid and CPR, and ITLS.  Natalka spends the summer working as a paramedic in the clinic at Connaught Cadet Camp.  Her passion is scuba diving, as she spent 11 years travelling and diving all over the world.  In 2011 she became a PADI Open Water Instructor and received her Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) Instructor certification in 2018.  Natalka is Founder/Lead Instructor of a new non-profit organization called Under the Surface Scuba which empowers Canadian Military Veterans, RCMP, firefighters, police and paramedics who sustained mental and physical injuries in the line of duty on their road to recovery through the therapeutic qualities of scuba diving!

 

 

 

Jeffrey Lee

Jeffrey Lee

B.Sc.N

Jeffrey obtained his B.Sc.N. (cum laude) from the University of Ottawa and RN license (College of Nurse of Ontario) in 2003. He currently is completing a Masters of Nursing at his alma mater. He also has completed individual nursing diplomas in emergency nursing, critical care nursing and perioperative nursing, plus nursing certificates in perianesthsia nursing and infection control & prevention. He has completed extensive coursework and training in emergency/disaster management and CBRNE.

Jeffrey has diverse work experience from pre-hospital care to critical care and held nursing licenses in BC and Quebec. He has worked with adult and pediatric populations in the fields of medical-surgical, emergency, ICU, PACU, mental health, infection control & prevention, and the operating room. The varied healthcare settings include large Canadian tertiary care centers, such as the TOH, CHEO, and VGH, and austere environments with the Canadian Armed Forces Health Services (CFHS), such as the Disaster Assistance Response Team (2005) and two combat tours (Role 3 hospital) in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He held the St John Ambulance provincial nursing officer post in Federal District (2003-2009) with care management of mass gatherings.

Jeffrey also has taught with many organizations, specifically the American Red Cross, the Canadian Red Cross, St John Ambulance, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Society of Trauma Nurses, ITLS International, and CFHS. He has instructorship in first aid, CPR, Emergency Medical Responder, BLS, ACLS, PALS, and ATCN. He is an experienced medical simulation facilitator and operator. He is an ATLS course coordinator for American College of Surgeons.

 

 

 

Jim Richards

Jim Richards

Jim has over 25 years of experience in teaching First Aid.  As well as a First Aid Instructor he is also a Casualty Simulation Instructor Trainer and is certified in Canine and Feline CPR.  As well as teaching First Aid for the Red Cross, he has helped to set up their First Aid Response Team and their Disaster Services Teams.  He has also taught for St. John Ambulance where he was in charge of all of the adult divisions for Federal District, and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.  Jim retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, and had several deployments to such areas as the Golan Heights and Somalia.  He has also volunteered his time to go to Jamaica and St. Kitts on behalf of St. John Ambulance to help teach First Aid. Currently his is a member of the Reserves where he holds the rank of Captain.  He also volunteers his time with the Navy League of Canada, where he is a volunteer Commanding Officer of NLCC Carlplace.

 

 

 

Pat Pruner

Pat Pruner

Pat Pruner has been instructing everything from Standard and Wilderness First aid to Emergency Medical Responder courses in civilian and military circles since 1989. He also has extensive practical experience as both a volunteer and professional First Responder. As an Instructor in Casualty Simulation, he uses make-up to add higher levels of realism to the advanced courses. He has been internationally recognized for establishing first aid training centers in the Dominican Republic, Mali, and most notably in Haiti where in cooperation with the United Nations he was assigned as project Chief Instructor, and tasked to train the Haitian National Police force in First Aid following the earthquake. Pat carries additional instructor certifications in Canoeing, Survival, WHMIS and certifications in Mental Health First Aid and Rescue SCUBA diving. While Pat has a no-nonsense approach to instruction, his courses are fairly relaxed, humorous and his students typically end the course feeling much more confident in their First Aid skills than when they started.

 

 

 

Simon-Luc Lavoie
Simon-Luc Lavoie

Simon-Luc is a Medical Technician (Med Tech) in the Canadian Armed Forces where he has had the opportunity to work with multiple units in Canada allowing him to gain experience as a military health care provider, instructor and leader. His work history includes, mounted and dismounted Med Tech, Volunteer Search and Rescue Med Tech, Detachment Commander, Training NCO, Operations NCO, First Aid Instructor, First Responder Instructor, Combat First Aid Instructor and Tactical Combat Casualty Care Instructor.

He also had the chance to deploy on multiple occasions; in 2010, to the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan as part of ROTO 10 of OPERATION ATHENA; in 2013, to Corsica, France on EXERCISE SERPENT EX; and in 2014 on OPERATION REASSURANCE in Campia Turzii, Romania.

He is highly involved within ITLS, becoming an instructor in 2015 and affiliate faculty in 2016. He is involved with the ITLS Global Development Committee, the ITLS Conference Planning Committee and the ITLS Military Editorial Board. He was also part of a team contracted to teach the first ITLS Military courses in the Gulf Region at the Prince Sultan Military College of Health Science in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

He currently hold certifications to teach ACLS, ITLS (Basic, Advanced, Military, Instructor) and is also in the process of completing training to teach BLS and PALS.

Simon-Luc joined First Aid Plus in 2015 where he brings over 10 years of teaching experience.