With the 16th annual South Saskatchewan First Responders conference going on this weekend, the focus is on the importance of this group of people.

In a province like Saskatchewan where people are very spread out in rural communities and farms, it's often the First Responders that are there on the scene.

One such person is Chris Ward, a First Responder for 14 years who has attended the conference for all of those years. She said the conference is more than just a get together.

"The conference offers so much more. They've got some wonderful speakers that are so knowledgeable and keep us up to date about what's the latest and greatest, and give us scenarios to think on that maybe we haven't come across and that quite likely will. The more you know, the more you're prepared ahead of time when you do have those calls you do have to go out to."

Ward knows that very well, when she used an automated external defibrillator (AED) at Mosaic Place to save a man having a heart attack in December of 2013.

Ward encourages everyone to get the training to become a First Responder, but especially in rural areas.

"We get the call when the ambulance gets the call. We're in our own communities, we're close. That's why we got the call so we're the first people on the scene."