Celebrating 140 Years of St John First Aid in Australia

What was the challenge?? ?

Help never gets old. This was a key message for St John Ambulance Australia’s140th year anniversary campaign between June 2023 and June 2024. The intent was to convey that while times have changed, the mission of St John is as relevant today as it was in 1883. The celebratory year presented the challenge of condensing decades of history into something meaningful for today’s communities. ? ? St John’s services in Australia are geographically and operationally diverse. Within a federated structure, the Australian Priory’s head office works alongside eight separate but collaborative state and territory entities. Together, this network encompasses over 10,000 volunteers and more than 3,000 professional staff - reaching upward of 2 million people a year. Whilst services across Australia now vary to meet community needs, one thing has remained constant over the 140-year lifespan – First Aid.? ? ? The campaign sought to highlight the historic and modern relevance of first aid, alongside the value of St John’s people and communities.? ? ?

What was your response? ?

St John came together nationally to acknowledge the anniversary with a series of community and member events, online content, media activity and merchandise. The campaign was launched on St John’s Day with the red and green light-up of 23 buildings and monuments in major cities and towns. The launch coincided with the official date of establishment of the first St John Ambulance Association in Melbourne in 1883. ? ? We used a comparison of ‘then and now’ style imagery and narratives – highlighting our growth from the early days of the ‘aid to the injured’ movement, to the world-class training and frontline responses of today. We conducted an Australia-wide survey to test the public’s experiences with first aid. The survey revealed that while 72 percent of Australian adults had witnessed a health emergency, more than half did not feel confident in their ability to provide first aid. This provided a call to action to undertake first aid training. The resulting media coverage was significant with mentions in metropolitan and regional news outlets across television, radio, print, digital, and social media.? ??

What has been your biggest piece of learning from your work this year???

We were much clearer about the importance of communication within a federated structure. The campaign created an increased appetite for collaborative efforts and has led to further plans for how best to deliver Australia-wide communications activity with a consistency of message and experience.?

This article was first shared by the St John Ambulance Australia (National Office) team in our Annual Report 2023. You can find out more about the work of St John here: https://www.stjohninternational.org/what-we-do/