Across three action-packed days St John volunteer and BERT teams braved foggy early mornings, and long shifts to deliver frontline first aid services and a community engagement activation to ensure that the more than 30,000 visitors to the show had a safe and enjoyable experience. 

Over the course of the weekend our teams treated 72 patients, with only five cases requiring hospital transport, a true demonstration of the skill, dedication and preparedness of every volunteer who showed up.  

On a lighter note, our community engagement stand proved equally impactful. Volunteers connected face-to-face with show-goers, sharing information about the lifesaving work and services that we provide from first aid training and volunteering opportunities to community defibrillator programs.  

A major highlight for many of our young visitors was the stamping of close to 1,000 children’s emergency services booklets, giving families a fun and memorable introduction to the importance of first aid and community safety alongside fellow emergency services including the NSW SES, NSW Police Force, and Fire & Rescue NSW. 

The success of events of this size and scale is only possible because of the dedication, commitment, teamwork, and coordination of our volunteers and logistics teams. Special thanks go to Peter Cameron and the logistics team for equipping this operation, and to Belinda Iemma and the marketing and sales team for driving such a successful engagement stand.  

Above all, it was the volunteers whose commitment over the past 30 years helped to make events such as these a success.