Almost 20 years ago, David Alexander was sitting in the back of a car with his brother, hands pressed to the bullet wound through his sibling's shoulder as they drove off Takla Lake First Nation towards medical care.
"We were two hours away from any hospital," said Alexander, 47.
He'd been shot from 10 feet away and the wound was about two inches from his heart.
"At first I didn't know what to do," Alexander said. "I didn't have no gloved hands but I just put pressure on both sides of his front and back and basically padded it up. We had to meet the ambulance halfway.
That was 1996. His brother survived and is fine, but that moment sparked an interest in Alexander to get educated.
"That was pretty intense," said Alexander, who had no training at the time. "Since then I started getting into first aid."
On Thursday he attended the First Nations First Responder graduation at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, as one of 118 people trained in the last year to address a need in rural and remote communities for emergency care.
The 11-day program was launched by the First Nations Health Authority and the Red Cross to give community members the knowledge and skills to respond to illness and injuries while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Red Cross said it believes the program has already saved lives.
"First responders are essential to enhancing emergency services closer to home and where they are needed most," said Richard Jock, chief operating officer of FNHA in a statement.
It's that ability to think fast and respond to serious situations - like Alexander's move to control a major bleed - that can make the difference in remote communities.
"These members are coming from isolated communities where the ambulance is either an hour away. I think they're going to make the difference," said Paul Stone, an instructor and examiner from Victoria, who runs HeartSafe First Aid Training.
"With the defibrillator and CPR, it's the first five to 10 minutes that make the difference. It's not an hour later."
Stone, a 40-year veteran of B.C. Ambulance Service described the first responder program as "very intensive."
It teaches the students to respond to cardiac arrest, CPR, controlled bleeding, immobilize fractures, and even spends some time on delivering babies.
Rochelle Turner said getting to graduation day was a big relief.
"It feels good," added Allison Clement, whose community - Nazko First Nation - is about an hour outside of Quesnel and the nearest hospital.
"It's awesome just knowing I have this certificate and bringing it back home to my community so I could help and better the community," said Clement, who will take her skills back to her work in a logging camp.
"Now that I know, I'm confident in myself taking this course. I think I'd be able to help."
Fort St. James is the nearest hospital to Turner and while Wet'suwet'en First Nation has a health clinic, she plans to bring her new skills to her work as an early childhood educator.
"It's good to have the knowledge to look after them," said Turner, who also works with elders in her community of about 200.
Turner said it was nice to train with and meet other First Nations during the almost two-week course.
"It builds more of a network system in case we end up close to where they are and we know where to look for help," said Turner, adding she plans to encourage elders and council members to take the course too.
"You don't know when (an accident) is going to happen or what's going to happen so it's best to be prepared."
A previoius version of this article incorrectly stated the number of graduates this year. In 2015, 118 people were trained through the program.
