St John Ambulance Australia SA Inc. Annual Report 2018-2019

St John Ambulance Australia SA Inc Annual Report 2018/19 43

EVERY HEARTBEAT MATTERS

POSITIVE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

We want every South Australian to be skilled in first aid, have the confidence to act when faced with an emergency and be able to recover from adversity.

Awareness forms an important part of these goals.

Social Media platforms

We engage media outlets to deliver stories promoting the importance of first aid. Channels include major television stations like Channel 7, Channel 9, Network Ten and the ABC, as well as print press including the Advertiser, Sunday Mail and country newspapers. As a first aid expert, St John SA also regularly provides representatives to deliver comment and advice on health related issues across media channels. Again this financial year, our Education and Training Quality Team participated in a number of initiatives around CPR and the use of defibrillators, such as interviews with ABC Radio, both regional and in Adelaide, that included hands-on CPR practice for the presenter/ reporter and were livestreamed on social media. We continued our volunteer recruitment initiatives throughout the financial year with radio interviews, regional and state-wide print advertisements, a letterbox drop, as well as recruitment drives at local events, university open days, and other industry events. A focus on regional recruitment saw a much-needed boost in volunteer numbers in some of our more isolated divisions.

LinkedIn followers St John Ambulance Australia (SA) Inc

764

linkedin.com/company/st-john-ambulance-australia-sa-inc

Facebook followers St John Ambulance | SA

8,765

facebook.com/stjohnambulancesa

Twitter followers St John Ambulance SA

3,443

The 2018/19 financial year saw the completion of the second wave of our Every Heartbeat Matters project

twitter.com/stjohn_sa

with another 104 public access defibrillators installed in regional and remote South Australia thanks to generous funding from the South Australian Hotels Industry (AHA|SA) and the SA Licensed Clubs Industry (Clubs SA).

Instagram followers St John Ambulance SA

421

instagram.com/stjohnambulance_sa

YouTube Subscribers St John Ambulance SA

Public awareness around the campaign and the importance of public access defibrillators has grown significantly in the last year. Regular media coverage continues to be gained in response to this initiative, further increasing public awareness around CPR and defibrillation.

97

youtube.com/user/StJohnAmbulanceSA

We have continued to provide community first aid education sessions with our CPR Lab, going out to regional towns and teaching locals how to perform CPR and use an AED. Staff at pubs and clubs where defibrillators have been installed have also engaged in these educational sessions, increasing their confidence and capacity to assist in an emergency.

The second 104 defibrillators were deployed throughout the Barossa Light and Lower North, Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and parts of the Far North. The coming financial year will see the installation of the final 104 defibrillators, completing the regional defibrillator rollout.

We are working hard to improve the outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest – currently only 1 in 10 survives this medical event outside of hospital. With the deployment of these lifesaving devices and increased community awareness, we aim to turn these statistics around.