St John Ambulance in Wales (Priory of Wales) (commonly referred to as St John Cymru - Wales) is a charity (registered in England and Wales) dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

. It is a subsidiary charity of the Priory of Wales (that is, the Welsh branch) of the wider international Order of St. John.

History

The medieval Order of St John is the original inspiration of the modern Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem. As part of its charitable work, the Order founded three separate charities in the nineteenth century. One was an eye hospital in Jerusalem. The other two were the St John Ambulance Association (1877) and the St John Ambulance Brigade (1887) providing, respectively, first aid and nursing traning, and first aid and nursing work by trained volunteers. The two organisations merged around a hundred years later into the single St John Ambulance organisation.

In 1907 King Edward VII, as Sovereign Head of the Order, authorised the foundation of different 'priories' of the Order for different nations.Cited on the history page here of the SJA Wales website. The first to be founded was the Priory of Wales (1918), which in turn led to St John Ambulance in Wales becoming a separate organisation and charity from the English parent body.

See also

• St. John Ambulance
  St. John Ambulance
  St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
  
  
• St John Ambulance Ranks and Insignia
  St John Ambulance Ranks and Insignia
  From its beginnings, the St. John Ambulance Brigade employed ranks and insignia to distinguish grades within its membership and management structure; these were extended across the wider organisation following its merge with the St John Ambulance Association to form St. John Ambulance...
  
  
• Venerable Order of St. John
• Service Medal of the Order of St John
  Service Medal of the Order of St John
  The Service Medal of the Order of St John is an award given to those that have provided a requisite number or years service to the Venerable Order of St John...
  
  
• Insignia of the Venerable Order of St John

External links

• St John Ambulance - The Priory for Wales