St John Ambulance Australia

St John Ambulance Australia (SJAA) is a self-funding charitable organisation dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight Priories that form the Order of St John.

History
St John First Aid training centres were established in Australia in the late 19th century. On the 13 June 1883 a public meeting was held in the Melbourne Town Hall to form a local branch of the association. By the end of June 1883, a centre had been established under the leadership of Edward Neild.

The first division of the St John Ambulance Brigade (now known as first aid services/operations branch) was established in Glebe, NSW in 1903. Other states followed suit, with divisions being set up in other states soon after. In 1987, the organisation adopted a single public title, "St John Ambulance Australia". The cadet movement was established in Australia in 1925 with a division in Darlinghurst, NSW. The first grand prior's badge issued outside the UK went to a cadet from Marrickville Cadet Division in 1933 named Marion Higgins.

In 2005, it was decided that the organisation would adopt a corporate structure with closer relationships between the branches of St John, known as 'One St John'.

Structure of St John
The national board oversees St John in the whole of Australia. The organization is then divided into the states/territories who have their own boards and oversee the day to day running of St John. Some states are also divided into regions, who oversee all branches and report to the state boards.

St John Ambulance Australia has several main areas of activity:

First Aid Services & "Volunteer First Aid Service" (Also known as Operations Branch): St John provides volunteer first aid services at events and emergencies. St John covers public events such as local and major sporting events, concerts and fun runs. First Aid Services is divided into states, regions and divisions.

This branch is headed up nationally by Chief Commissioner Prof Paul Arbon AM CStJ

St John volunteers support state emergency management and disaster plans in some states.

Training: St John is the largest first aid training organisation in Australia. Apart from its flagship Senior First Aid course, St John also offer instruction in advanced topics such as ALS (Advanced Life Support), which includes Advanced Resuscitation, AED (Automated External Defibrillation) and analgesic administration (including entinox gas and methoxyflurane analgesics). Courses offered include: Basic Life Support, Occupational First Aid, Industrial First Responder and Industrial Paramedic.

Ophthalmic Care: St John Ambulance Australia raises funds and recruits staff for the St John Ophthalmic Eye Hospital in Jerusalem. Funds are raised through public donation, and income received from conducting first aid courses and selling first aid kits and merchandise.

Community Care: St John Community Care conducts programs that are specific to each state. These activities range from assisting disadvantaged youth, to providing voluntary transport and support programs for the frail and elderly.

Ambulance Service: In Western Australia and the Northern Territory St John Ambulance provides the statutory ambulance service. This service is provided through a combination of paid and volunteer staff. Paid Ambulance Officers and Paramedics are used in the metropolitan areas and larger regional centres. Volunteer Ambulance Officers are used in regional areas and some outer metropolitan areas.

Youth movement
St John runs Cadet divisions for children aged 8-17, this includes Juniors (8-12) and Cadets (11-17).

St John Ambulance also has numerous divisions for universities, although not all members are university students.

Youth Councils are run in each state, and there also exists an Australian Youth Council. These councils debate and create new policies and direction for St John youth. Youth councils represent young people in the organisation who are aged 8 to 25 years. In 2006, the Australian Youth Council (AYC) restructured to be made up of 16 State/Territory representatives (nominated by their State/Territory, including the Chairperson and another representative) and 5 National portfolio holders, including a Communications Coordinator, Training and Leadership Coordinator, Research Development Coordinator, Policy Coordinator and Australian Chairperson. The AYC Chairperson also sits as a full member of the National Board of the organisation.

The AYC usually meets in person once or twice a year, usually including the National Conference or Priory in June, and another meeting later in the year, as well as teleconferences during the year.

The youth program in Australia, focuses on developing young people in a variety of aspects. Young members are not only taught the life saving skills of first aid, but they also participate in youth development and social activities. For cadets, it is also possible to study for various badge rewards, of whose topics include counter-disaster, animal care and cookery, to name a few.

In general, youth and cadet divisions meet once a week, to in a designated place, to conduct a training night. As mentioned above, these nights are not just spent learning first aid. The training program includes various other topics, which are of general interest to most.

Youth members attend public duties to provide first aid at various events to members of the public. These duties include things such as: Big Day Out, Royal Easter Show (NSW), National Folk Festival (ACT), AFL Games (All AFL states), NRL, Super 12, and Rugby Union games, among other popular events. There are also many more lower profile events, like local fetes and markets. At these duties, St John members use treatment tools such as: oxygen therapy, defibrillation and analgesic gases on top of the standard first aid equipment.

In most states, new youth members will be put through a Senior First Aid Course (SFA), which is usually worth ~$200.

St John youth also provides leadership opportunities for people of all ages. The program possesses a specially-designed leadership program and a ranking system similar to the military.

First aid competitions are also held each year. This is a very popular thing among the youth movement. In these competitions, cadets (in teams of up to 3, or on their own) are tested on their: first aid skill, practical thinking and problem solving ability, and scene management skills. A national competition is held each year, at the National Cadet Camp (commonly regarded as NatCamp). In 2007, New South Wales won the overall championship, breaking a 10 year drought for the state.

Trivia

 * A team of 5000 members helped treat 1500 casualties at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.