News
Check out the latest updates from St John WA below.
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St John WA team member saves little girl from choking thanks to first aid course
A recent first aid course done by a St John WA team member has paid off, with a little girl saved from choking. Ashleigh Kretzmann was at her local shopping centre last week when she heard a woman crying out that her daughter was choking. The girl, who was about four years old, had been…
NAIDOC Week: Next Generation gets celebrated in style
In the Spirit of NAIDOC Week – celebrating the next generation: strength, vision and legacy – St John WA team members and the Perth community have donated 10 large boxes of ball clothes to remote Aboriginal communities. Emergency Medical Technician Jade Maitland-Smith, from Dawesville, has been quietly distributing donated ball clothes over the past six…
African hospitals benefit from St John WA stretcher donation
St John WA (SJWA) has donated 75 manual Ferno stretchers, worth more than $800,000, to African hospitals and medical clinics to be used for patient transfer or in ambulances. The stretchers will be distributed in Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda, as well as Cambodia in south-east Asia, as part of Rotary Australia World Community Service’s…
A paramedic’s journey from cadet to clinical lead
The St John Academy has kicked off for the first time in nearly a decade, reimagining the previously run Cadet Program. Nick Overington started as a Cadet with Melville in 2011 and 14 years on, is now a dedicated and talented Paramedic working in the newly created Clinical Lead role with St John WA. The…
A paramedic pair: In step and in service
When Helena and Jorge McCulloch stepped off the plane into 41-degree Perth heat in February 2024, they turned to each other and thought, “Oh no, where are we?” But as they settled in, it didn’t take long to see the beauty around them. Their journey began on opposite ends of Queensland, where Jorge worked as…
Special delivery in Albany sees St John WA crew help welcome baby boy
An Albany mother has welcomed her third child thanks to the help of a St John WA crew. Jenna Gibellini knew her latest baby was close to arrival, but she never expected him to be born so quickly – or to be born in her bathroom. Luckily, on May 16, her husband Kyle had decided…
Paradise with a purpose: Meet the volunteers keeping Coral Bay safe
Some would say St John WA volunteers Katie and Brad Booth live in paradise. The travelling couple have called the idyllic town of Coral Bay home for two years. Katie, a local registered nurse, became a volunteer with the Coral Bay Sub Branch as a way to really engage with the community. For Brad, who…
Recognition across five CAA award categories
St John WA has been recognised as a finalist for every award submission it entered into this year’s Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) 2025 Awards for Excellence. Five submissions were entered into the categories of Clinical Practice, Staff Development, Leadership, Mental Health & Wellbeing and Technology, excluding Patient Care. It is the first time SJWA…
St John WA team members honoured at Recognition Ceremony
189 team members of St John WA were honoured at the Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday 11 June. The event celebrates the remarkable academic and professional achievements of St John WA’s operational team with the latest Paramedic Promotions, Service Award recipients and National Medal and Clasp recipients recognised. The June event is the first of two…
King’s Birthday Honours for one of St John WA’s finest
St John WA is proud to share the news that former Clinical Support Paramedic Shane Toovey has been awarded an Ambulance Service Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours for 2025. Shane first joined St John WA as an on-road Ambulance Officer in 2010. He steadily climbed his way through the ranks, being promoted to Paramedic…
Vital defibrillator donation to support First Nations health in Narrogin
An organisation supporting First Nations communities across the Wheatbelt is the latest recipient of life-saving equipment from St John WA (SJWA). Keedac (Kaata-Koorliny Employment and Enterprise Development Aboriginal Corporation) was identified as needing an automated external defibrillator (AED) after the SJWA Yarning team delivered training in Narrogin and found that the organisation did not have…
Saving lives is in St John WA’s blood
With the sheer number of paramedics, police and firefighters present at Lifeblood’s Perth Donor Centre this morning, you could be forgiven for thinking there was an emergency unfolding. However, all those attending were there supporting a different cause – the launch of Lifeblood’s annual Emergency Services Blood Drive. St John WA Group CEO, Kevin Brown,…