St John Ambulance (VIC) Volunteering

Teaching Brimbank Youth Division

In 2019 I joined the Djerriwarrh Youth Division of St John Ambulance (SJA) as a Youth Member. Here I expanded my knowledge about first aid and applied it to treat patients at public events. I transferred to the Brimbank Youth Division because of the pandemic shutting down my local division. Even though the lockdown made it seem that doors were closing, doors to new opportunities were opening.

At Brimbank I organised training for the youth members and simulated scenarios allowing them to understand the practicalities and importance of patient-centered care. This led me to overseeing members’ progress by mentoring them and helping them improve their communication, adaptability, and teamwork skills. The outcome of this was youth members feeling confident in their capacity to treat and be better prepared when attending to patients suffering from a range of pain and injuries.

My demonstrated motivation to develop the members’ understanding and positively influencing them led to my promotion to Senior Leader of the division. In this new position, I ensured values were respected, prioritising the safety and well-being of members. For example, during divisional trainings conflict would occur amongst members where a person offended another. I responded to these situations by advising them of the consequences to their actions followed by reporting the incidents to the Youth Program Administrative Officer (Yandy Zhang) without judgement. This ensured that members were respected, understood the importance of being kind to each other, and they could look up to me as a role model who stands by solid principles.

New Responsibilities As An Adult First Responder

After reaching the highest rank as a youth member I wanted to broaden my scope of practice which would allow me to treat patients with a wider range of wounds and conditions. Pursuing this goal, I undertook courses within and outside of the Youth Program allowing me to graduate as a First Responder in 2024 and to join the Adult Djerriwarrh Division. Most surprising about this role was my ability to actively participate in inter-agency training scenarios simulating larger-scale public emergencies. These involved different branches of emergency services rather than just SJA. I dove into these new inter-agency training opportunities for fire emergencies between SJA and Country Fire Authority (CFA), and in the inter-agency training for aircraft emergencies between SJA, CFA, State Emergency Service, and Victoria Police. These trainings developed my ability to communicate clearly with emergency services under pressure when critical thinking and situational judgement are required to arrive at the best decision in given scenarios. Despite the simulated emergencies, the heat, aircraft engines, and panicked actors, I appreciated the significance of sharing workloads (in this case the number of patients) across my crew members. As well, it made me aware that I cannot possibly do everything on my own. Instead, it is smarter and more effective to delegate, communicate my need for help before it becomes unavailable, and to be kind to myself rather than punish myself.

Insights Gained

Looking back on my years of volunteering alongside medical staff, I am proud of my personal growth while contributing over 350 hours of service. One of my most valuable experiences has been training newly promoted First Responders during their shifts. In these moments, I drew from my own early challenges recalling the situations where I felt uncertain such as attending unfamiliar venues or handling injuries I had not encountered before. By openly sharing my past experiences and the mistakes I had made, I was able to create a supportive environment that encouraged learning and teamwork.

Through this process, I learned the importance of fostering a culture where clear communication, constructive feedback, and mutual support allow a team to function effectively under time pressure. I have also come to understand that mistakes should not be overlooked nor discouraged. Instead, mistakes provide meaningful opportunities to identify weaknesses and build resilience for the future. As both a First Responder and Team Leader, I consistently make it a priority to ensure my crew feel safe to learn, ask questions, and develop without fear of judgement. This approach not only strengthens individual confidence but also enhances the overall capability of the team.