About SSVN Survival Skills

During a visit to Vietnam, expert Tony Coffey was invited by the Australian Consulate to conduct a first aid training session in Da Nang for Vietnamese alumni of Australian educational institutions. Ms. Trang Jena Nguyen, who attended the session, realized that first aid was a vital life skill that was sorely lacking in Vietnam. Consequently, she earnestly invited Tony to return to the country to help disseminate these skills among the Vietnamese people. During his time in Vietnam, Tony learned that many people—particularly children—had lost their lives because those around them did not know how to administer proper first aid. In response, Tony and Ms. Trang established the non-profit project “Survival Skills Vietnam.”

Trang Jena (currently based in Switzerland) and Tony (from Australia) arranged to meet in Vietnam to organize first aid education programs for schools. Over the years, both have worked extra hours to accrue leave and used their own funds to travel to Vietnam six times annually, keeping the momentum of the first aid training movement alive. Throughout this period, the Center for Community Health Research and Support (CCHS)—led by its director, Mr. Tran Trieu Ngoa Huyen—has sponsored the project’s activities.

Mr. Ho Thai Binh helped bring Survival Skills Vietnam to Vung Tau City. While attending the course, he wanted a mobile app that would allow him to quickly look up the correct procedures to follow in the event of an accident. However, at the time, there were no such apps available in Vietnamese, so he suggested that expert Tony create a first aid guide app. Tony revealed that he had long harbored the same idea but had been deterred by the high cost of app development in Australia; consequently, Mr. Binh resolved to teach himself how to build the app. After two months of research and development—supported by software engineer and fellow first aid student Mr. Nguyen Van Trung—the first Vietnamese-language first aid app, named “Sơ Cấp Cứu – SSVN,” was launched. The app subsequently received funding from the Australian Consulate in Vietnam to support the development of future versions.

The project began facing financial difficulties as the demand for first-aid training grew, while the personal savings of the two co-founders—which had been funding operations—were rapidly depleting. Recognizing the risk that the project might come to a halt, Mr. Ho Thai Binh proposed transforming Survival Skills Vietnam into a social enterprise; the plan was to sell high-quality courses to businesses to generate revenue for non-profit programs. Consequently, Mr. Binh joined the team as a co-founder and director, transitioning the Survival Skills Vietnam non-profit project into the social enterprise SSVN Survival Skills.

SSVN’s internationally standardized first aid training program has been warmly received by clients, thanks to an approachable style, the instructors’ dedication, and the added value provided; most notably, the program directly contributes to spreading first aid knowledge among students and vulnerable groups. The number of people reached by SSVN’s first aid training has doubled compared to the period when it operated solely as a non-profit project, with 80% of these individuals benefiting through non-profit initiatives.

This reputation has led to partnerships with the VTV program Chìa Khóa Cuộc Sống (Key to Life) and other television shows to produce regular televised first aid tutorials. Additionally, SSVN has garnered numerous major accolades, including a spot in the Top 5 of the Blue Venture Social Entrepreneurship Awards.

The COVID-19 pandemic cast a global shadow, severely impacting the education sector, and SSVN was no exception. Despite facing two consecutive years of hardship due to the loss of course-based revenue, SSVN remained committed to the community by developing online initiatives, such as YouTube tutorials and live-streamed sessions. Notably, the organization made significant investments in Vietnam’s first dedicated e-learning platform for first aid education—a system boasting advanced capabilities comparable to those of the world’s leading first aid training organizations. Thanks to these efforts, the number of people learning first aid through SSVN not only held steady but actually surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

SSVN’s unique impact-driven business model—which successfully weathered the pandemic—has garnered attention and numerous accolades from both domestic and international entities, including the UNDP, the ASEAN Foundation, and the governments of Australia, the United States, and Canada. Furthermore, SSVN’s model has become a case study in research and curricula on impact-driven business at various universities and educational institutions worldwide.

People with disabilities often face challenges in protecting themselves against the risk of accidents and injuries, as well as difficulties in accessing assistance when mishaps occur. While this is a widespread issue with significant consequences for the disability community, it has not yet received sufficient global attention. Beyond its ongoing support and training initiatives, SSVN has pioneered a series of new activities across the ASEAN region—such as training programs for people with disabilities, teachers, and caregivers—and has launched a range of accessible materials, including sign language video lessons, Braille books, and audiobooks.

The expertise and technologies developed by SSVN in Vietnam have been adopted and localized by organizations across ASEAN to support communities in the region that are highly vulnerable to accidents and injuries. These efforts include support projects such as training the visually impaired and their caregivers in Thailand, training organizations that care for people with disabilities in Indonesia, and providing guidance on managing injuries caused by storms and floods in Myanmar.