Dear Team,
This month has been full of events worth celebrating as St John continues to make a difference in local communities across NSW.
For the first time in our right, St John NSW marched in the Mardi Gras parade showcasing our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Our Event Medical Services Team – the Team in Green – also provided event health services for the event, dealing with some complex scenarios and earning praise from the Event organisers, Police and NSW Ambulance. I was genuinely moved by the positive comments of praise and gratefulness coming from the crowd which only reinforced our positive community impact.
I had the honour of attending Molong Cadet Division’s 30th Anniversary Presentation Night which celebrated the years of dedicated service that has built a thriving cadet unit and was attended by politicians from each level of Government as a testament to the importance of St John in the community. Amongst other great things happening, our Youth Program sponsored the State Youth First Aid Competition at Macquarie Park on 9 March. 77 youth members competed in the championships over 7 different categories. Harbourside Combined, Western Suburbs and Bankstown City cadet divisions shared in the honours. Congratulations to the SYT who staged a very good event.
We had the chance to welcome the visit of His Excellency Reverend Sir David Tiva Kapu, Governor General of Solomon Islands, Lady Kapu and Mr Cameron Oxley GCStJ, Chancellor of St John Ambulance Australia to our Macquarie Park office. Showcasing what we do best, the visit made a lasting impression and amplified our capability to the betterment of our services in Solomon Islands.
I could not be more proud of St John NSW response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The Incident Management Team quarterbacked a significant and timely response. In all, 38 people were deployed in support of the response. St John NSW was represented in the Northern LHD operational meeting and at the State Emergency Operations Centre. We operated Five Evacuation centres and importantly treated over 290 patients who would have otherwise put pressure on hospitals and other health services.
Thank you to our members who worked both on the frontlines and behind the scenes to support the disaster relief effort. Thank you also to the family and friends who supported our members to deploy. Together, we continue to demonstrate the great capability we have as an organisation, to be always there for communities when it is needed most.
St John NSW is the Medical Reserve – We Respond. Thank you to all.
Dom
