St John WA joins RAC’s bstreetsmart to teach students the value of first aid and road safety

St John WA was once again proud to be involved in RAC’s bstreetsmart event in Perth on March 31 and April 1.

More than 17,000 students attended the event, which exposes students to simulated crash scenes and includes talks from guest speakers.

RAC has been hosting bstreetsmart in Western Australia since 2012, and in this time more than 109,500 secondary school students have attended.

RAC bstreetsmart features a crash scene re-enactment attended by the emergency services, just as it would occur at a real crash site.

The students also have the opportunity to listen to speakers who have been directly impacted by road trauma and talk with emergency services personnel.

St John WA has been attending bstreetsmart since its inception, with Chief Preventative Officer Megs O’Donnell saying it was essential students learnt first aid to help keep themselves and their friends safe in the event of an accident.

“Having the confidence to step up and be a first responder on WA roads while an ambulance is on the way is so important, both for the confidence of drivers, the patients they provide aid to, and the ambulance crews who respond to the road crash,” she said.

“St John WA is incredibly proud to continue supporting RAC bstreetsmart, which shows how any driver can learn the skills and confidence to be a first responder and potentially save a life.”

St John WA responded to 6899 motor vehicle crashes in 2025, which works out to about one every 90 minutes.

With up to 15 per cent of road accident deaths preventable with timely first aid, Ms O’Donnell said the message was important.

“Out on WA roads, first aid skills can absolutely save a life,” she said.

“St John WA has long advocated for first aid education to be made available to people going through the process of attaining their licence, and has launched a free online 15-minute First Aid For Me course to support this.”