St John backs move to bring first aid to school classrooms

• St John has thrown its support behind a new State Government initiative to expand first aid training in WA schools,
• The announcement follows years of advocacy by St John WA,
• St John delivered free age-appropriate first aid training in WA classrooms to 80,000 students from pre-kindy to Year 10, and trained almost 340,000 Western Australians in first aid last year.

As the biggest provider of first aid training in Western Australia, St John has welcomed the expansion of first aid training in schools announced by the Minister for Education Sue Ellery today.

Last year St John delivered in-class training to more than 80,000 WA school children through the First Aid Focus program, and just this month released a free online short course specifically for teachers through the First Aid for Me platform.

First Aid for Me is an ideal refresher for teachers set to complete training under this new announcement to ensure that the skills learned through St John’s formal training programs stay top of mind.

The goal of St John is to ensure every school-aged child receives age-appropriate first aid training every year to ensure they have the time, tools and knowledge to act in a health emergency.

St John Chief of Brand and Reputation Aaron Crowther said first aid skills were critical to building resilient communities and it was never too young to start.

“About one child a month calls Triple Zero (000) when a parent or guardian experiences a health emergency so education like this can absolutely save a life.

“This is a positive step forward and should be celebrated. St John has long been advocating for greater recognition for the importance of first aid.

“Having more teachers and students trained in these core life skills will make our community stronger. As leaders in first aid, having delivered these programs for WA for 130 years now, we encourage schools and other organisations to get in contact with St John to see how we can expand our support for them.”