Rain couldn’t keep away Governor of Western Australia

• The Governor of Western Australia, His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM and Mrs Darrilyn Dawson met with SJWA Group CEO Kevin Brown, four heads of department, volunteers and staff;
• The tour included the State Operations Centre, Clinical Hub, Special Operations, the Order Museum and Heritage Centre, as well as a demonstration of specialist vehicles;
• Discussions ranged from the importance of defibrillators in cardiac arrest response to the pilot of on-road Critical Care Paramedics.

St John WA welcomed his Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM, Governor of Western Australia and Knight of Grace in the Order of St John, and Mrs Darrilyn Dawson to its State Office in Belmont on a rainy Tuesday, June 6.

As Knight Commander, Governor Dawson is Western Australia’s highest ranking Commandery member and ambassador of St John’s humanitarian purpose.

The Governor met with SJWA Group CEO Kevin Brown, Head of State Operations Centre (SOC) Wil White, Head of Special Operations Joe Cuthbertson, Acting Head of Clinical Services Lauren Davids, Resuscitation Improvement Specialist Jason Belcher, Head of Clinical Education Carole Donaldson, Director of Ceremonies Dr Harry Oxer and Critical Care Paramedics (CCPs) Eric Beason and Simon Jenkins.

The 1.5 hour tour included SOC, Clinical Hub, Special Operations, the Order Museum and Heritage Centre, as well as a demonstration of CCPs’ vehicle and the Multi-Patient Transport Vehicle. Discussions ranged from the importance of defibrillators in cardiac arrest response to the pilot of on-road Critical Care Paramedics (CCP), launched six months ago.

CCP crews primarily attend to critically ill patients more than 30 minutes from required hospital care, as they can treat and stabilise patients before transporting them directly to the appropriate hospital specialist unit.

CCPs can respond to major traumas, respiratory, neurological and cardiac incidents that require highly specialised skills such as pre-hospital anaesthesia, intubation and other hospital-based skills for critically ill patients.

Governor Dawson welcomed the operational insights and thanked volunteers for their commitment to the organisation, particularly in the regions.