On Saturday 10 April 2010, the 2010 Young Achiever Awards ceremony was held at the Holiday Inn Esplanade. It was not only a chance to award deserving young people, but was also the official launch of Australian Youth Week.

Two young St John members received Certificates of Achievement on the night, Amy McKay for The Minister for Young Territorians Excellence in Youth Leadership Award and Sarah McLaughlin for The Somerville Community Service Award.

Being a celebration of what young people can and are achieving, the night provided a great opportunity to reward the St John Ambulance Cadet of the Year, Leanne Eltagonde, Peter Falkland Youth Leader of the Year, Julie Murray, Kelly Raven, Superintendent of the Palmerston Youth Division and myself as Territory Officer Cadets with a glitzy and glamorous night mingling with the young achievers and leaders of the future.

A special thank you to Ross Coburn for supporting the group and attending the awards. Below is an excerpt from Amy and Sarah's nomination (note the nominations were submitted in late 2009).

Amy McKay

Amy joined St John Ambulance in 2002 at the age of 11 and immediately showed leadership potential and initiative. In 2004, she elected to complete an NCO course so that she could step up to the level of corporal and in 2005, sought further responsibilities and was promoted to sergeant in the division where she took on teaching and mentoring responsibilities for the younger members. In the last three years as well as assisting in the management of the Cadet Division, she has helped plan and run a number of camps, most recently the 2009 NT Cadet Camp in Alice Springs.

In February 2009, Amy turned 18 and further committed herself to St John Ambulance. She is now a Cadet Leader with the same division she grew up with. She continues to teach Cadets and Juniors weekly, developing lesson plans, producing resources and researching topics. As a first year nursing student at Charles Darwin University, she has been able to further assist the Cadet Division with more in depth first aid and medical training as well as act as a role model for the younger members of the division.

For a number of years Amy produced the end of year presentation for her Division using photos and music. This year (2009), she took it upon herself to teach a younger member of the division the skills to create the presentation. Given her abilities and creativity in producing media, Amy took it upon herself to develop a volunteer recruitment DVD for St John Ambulance NT to use during first aid courses. She also designed brochures and a bookmark for the same purpose.

As the Chair of the St John Ambulance Northern Territory Youth Council, Amy has increased membership, improved relations with the St John Ambulance (NT) executive, including the CEO and Commissioner, and driven the creation of the Youth Communication Network, a collection of tools used to keep young St John Ambulance members from across the NT informed of youth related opportunities and news from not only the NT, but across Australia. Initially an email group of St John Ambulance Cadet and Youth members, Amy plans to expand the Youth Communication Network in 2010 to include a weekly article in the ‘Vollie News’ written by young St John Ambulance members from across the NT (using a roster system to keep the information fresh and inclusive of all regions in the NT) and a youth link on the St John Ambulance (NT) web page.

Sarah McLaughlin

Sarah has provided over 1200 hours of service to the public in just four years. This is in addition to the first aid training that she has completed in her own time, including Senior First Aid and Advanced Resuscitation. As a first aider at various events that have included the Mindil Beach Markets, Go Karts, Polocrosse, Fred’s Pass and Darwin shows, Greek Glenti, Bass in the Grass and Beer Can Regatta, Sarah has attended to both locals and visitors to the Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield area. Not only has Sarah provided first aid, but also a friendly, helpful face to lost children at     events and local knowledge to tourists looking for directions or just for a place to rest from the heat.

Over the last two years, Sarah has stepped up her role with the St John Ambulance Cadet Band Divison. She assists in the instruction of younger members, in first aid, music and other subjects within the Cadet curriculum.

In addition, last year Sarah attended a motor vehicle accident with her mother and young brother while on the way to a cadet meeting night. Sarah and her mother immediately attended to the motor cyclist who was bleeding considerably and in an altered conscious state. The paramedics who arrived at the scene were then assisted by Sarah and her family. The senior paramedic informed me that Sarah “helped with the splinting and was active in helping to achieve haemorrhage control. She was a huge asset to the team that had assembled there and was instrumental in helping stabilise the patient and making things run smoothly”. While the patient ended up loosing his leg, Sarah and her family were instrumental in his immediate care before the ambulance arrived, a testament to her selfless service and excellent training.

Article By Kimberlee McKay Territory Officer - Cadets