Erika Andrusiak, Durham First Aid Inc. Founder and CEO: “Our highly trained Red Cross instructors complete an extensive certification and recertification process, allowing us to maintain our expertise in the latest first aid and CPR science, as well as in current teaching strategies.”

The Silicon Review

Durham First Aid Inc. is a trusted provider of high-quality first aid and lifesaving skills training, serving students, businesses, and individuals with a passion for safety and preparedness. Founded in 2015 by Erika Andrusiak, the company was created to meet the growing demand for reliable, accessible, and engaging first aid courses in the Durham Region. The inspiration for Durham First Aid Inc. came while Erika was serving as the First Aid Coordinator for the Durham Branch of the Canadian Red Cross. When she took over the role in 2012, the branch trained approximately 500 people annually. Through Erika’s dedication and leadership, that number grew to 2,700 trainees per year. In 2014, after learning that her position would be phased out within a few years, she made the decision to create a new home for the loyal clientele she had cultivated. Her vision was to ensure that businesses, students, and the public could continue to benefit from the same quality, dependability, and frequency of courses they had come to trust.

Opening a brick-and-mortar location at 585 Wentworth Street East in Oshawa, in the very same plaza as the Red Cross office, allowed for a seamless transition. Durham First Aid Inc. quickly established itself as a respected Canadian Red Cross training partner, delivering proven first aid programs within a welcoming, hands-on learning environment. Today, Durham First Aid Inc. proudly serves a wide range of clients, including the Town of Whitby, Ontario Tech University, and the Clarington Board of Trade, among many others. As a family-run business, the company remains committed to equipping participants with the confidence and skills to save lives, while fostering a culture of safety within the communities it serves.

In conversation with Erika Andrusiak, Founder and CEO of Durham First Aid Inc.

Can you explain your services in brief?

Durham First Aid Inc. is a full-service training partner of the Canadian Red Cross, offering all their first aid programs, which include:

Stay Safe! (Youth First Aid Course for ages 9–13)
Babysitter (youth course for ages 11-15)
CPR/AED Levels A, C, and BLS/HCP
Emergency First Aid and CPR/AED
Standard First Aid and CPR/AED
First Responder
Emergency Medical Responder
Basic and Advanced Marine First Aid
Psychological First Aid
Remote and Wilderness First Aid

Durham First Aid Inc. is also an Instructor Development Centre for the Canadian Red Cross, offering instructor courses in all the above levels. In fact, in both 2023 and 2024, Durham First Aid Inc. was one of the top three providers in Instructor Development in Canada.

How do your Traditional Classroom and Blended Learning options cater to different learner needs and preferences?

Historically, Canadian Red Cross programs were all delivered in person. However, changes in recent years have led to courses being offered in a blended learning (hybrid approach), allowing participants to do a self-directed online course before attending the in-person skills training.

For CPR/AED Levels A and C, Emergency First Aid, Standard First Aid, and Basic Marine First Aid, participants have an option between two types of training:

The Traditional Classroom has an interactive in-classroom experience where participants gain all the first aid knowledge and skills practice led by a first aid instructor.
Blended Learning has a mix of knowledge obtained online through independent learning and classroom skills. Once registered, each participant accesses the Red Cross learning portal. The online portion is self-directed and needs to be completed before the scheduled skills session.

This flexibility in delivery gives participants great flexibility in scheduling their courses, with time not being a barrier to certification.

Blended learning has proven fabulous for English as a Second Language (ESL) participants, for whom the spoken word in class might be more difficult than the written word. Participants can learn the theory at their pace on a device of their choosing. As the Canadian Red Cross offers the online portion in both French and English, this also attracts a greater market for those that wish to learn online in one of these languages. The theory retention online helps with the skills practice in class.

You may see online-only first aid and CPR courses advertised, but for workplace-compliant courses in Ontario, all first aid

and CPR courses must have an in-person component where participants demonstrate their skills to receive final certification.

Many training partners have stepped away from traditional classroom learning, putting their ownness on self-directed learning and less instructor time in the classroom. Durham First
Aid Inc. prides itself on offering the traditional classroom approach to courses as well as the blended approach. There are many reasons why a person would choose to learn in the classroom.

They prefer the information delivered and explained by a person rather than reading it themselves on a computer.
There are many that, after COVID, have faced online fatigue and would rather be in the classroom.
Various learning styles thrive in a classroom setting.
Offering both delivery methods allows us to cater to a wider population, making our courses more accessible.

During COVID we were also able to pivot some courses to be exclusively online, where an instructor was facilitating live training with participants. This was done with both the Babysitter and Stay Safe! youth programs. This allowed the youth who were at home to still learn valuable life-saving techniques and other life skills while isolating them at home.

Could you describe how your Standard and Emergency First Aid courses adhere to Ontario Health and Safety and WSIB regulations?

Durham First Aid Inc.’s Emergency and Standard First Aid adhere to WSIB regulations and Canadian Red Cross standards. WSIB has a minimum timeframe for courses, which Durham First Aid meets, plus has extra time built into the courses to ensure that participants allow time for reflection, correction, and practice. We want to ensure that all participants leave with the skills needed and the peace of mind required to help in an emergency. Our courses aren’t just about certification; they’re about the experience and skills obtained.

Did you know, according to Regulation 1101, all workplaces in Ontario covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) must provide first aid training to their employees? The training required depends on the number of people working per shift at a workplace:

For workplaces with 1-5 people working on any one shift, at least one must have an Emergency First Aid (EFA) certificate.
For workplaces with 6 or more people working on any shift, at least one must have a Standard First Aid (SFA) certificate.

When companies call or email and inquire about first aid training options, we ensure we outline these requirements so companies choose the right training to meet the needs of their specific industry or workplace.

Durham First Aid Inc. ensures that the additional course content required by WSIB in Ontario in an Emergency First Aid (EFA) course is covered. The Canadian Red Cross program is a national certification; however, WSIB in Ontario has several topics not included in the Red Cross EFA course. Our highly trained instructors ensure these extra topics, such as seizures, concussions, and insect bites, are included when taking our EFA training. We ensure that the company’s certifications are compliant with WSIB requirements and that their training fulfills the needs of the province.

How do you ensure your team of instructors maintains high standards and delivers consistent quality across all course types?

Our highly trained Red Cross instructors complete an extensive certification and recertification process, allowing us to maintain our expertise in the latest first aid and CPR science, as well as in current teaching strategies.

Our instructors use a learner-centered approach to training, which allows them to tailor the teaching method to the learning style of the participants. This flexibility increases participants’ retention of skills and level of confidence to act in an emergency.

What measures do you use to gather participant feedback and continuously improve your course content and delivery?

Durham First Aid Inc. has a variety of methods where we accept feedback from our participants and clients to ensure that we continue to offer the best training in a comfortable training room with state-of-the-art training manikins.

At the conclusion of the course, participants are asked to complete a feedback form where they are asked to comment on the:

registration process
the comfort of the training facility
overall satisfaction with the course
how prepared they feel in using the knowledge obtained in the course
if they would recommend Durham First Aid Inc. to someone
they are asked to rate the instructor and how they impacted their learning, if the information was delivered in a fashion that was easy to follow, and if they had enough time to practice their skills.

After the certification has been issued, a follow-up email is also sent asking for additional feedback or if they would like to provide a Google Review.

All feedback forms are read by the instructor and management so any issues can be dealt with in a swift manner, and praise is provided to those that did an excellent job.

When I personally teach a course, I always ask participants for honest feedback, as I want to ensure that our courses not only meet but exceed expectations and that participants had a good time and obtained the knowledge they need and want. If I am not meeting these expectations, I want to know how I can improve in future courses.

What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

Durham First Aid Inc. is excited to continue to provide excellent quality first aid and CPR courses to the Durham Region Community. We have gone from training only 87 people in 2016 to 1992 people in 2017, our first year with our bricks-and-mortar training center, to 7897 people trained in 2023. Our goal is to increase by 1000 people each year! In 2025 we are en route to train over 9000 people! That is 9000 people that have learned to save a life by taking courses with us.

Durham First Aid Inc. is a valuable part of the community, sponsoring first aid kits for the Oshawa Community Hockey League, Ajax Soccer Club, and Jersey Sponsor for the Their Opportunity Hoops and Beyond Summer basketball program, all in the 2024-2025 season. We have also sponsored Whitby Wildcats hockey teams. We look forward to increasing our community involvement as our company continues to grow.

Exciting partnerships have been with Ontario Tech University, where we train nursing students in Basic Life Support CPR, and partnerships with the Town of Whitby, offering Youth First Aid courses as part of their Parks and Recreation offerings. We look forward to new partnerships with various municipalities and institutions.