ST JOHN NT
NEWSROOM

St John Ambulance Australia (NT) Inc. (St John NT) and Masonic Charities SA & NT have partnered to provide life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in the Northern Territory.

The training is available through a $60,000 grant from Masonic Charities SA & NT over three years for St John NT to deliver CPR courses in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs to Masonic Lodge and community members in an aim to build greater community resilience and first responder capacity.

St John NT CEO Judith Barker welcomed the funding initiative explaining that how we respond in an emergency could be the difference between life and death.

“Every year approximately 30,000 Australians suffer a cardiac arrest out of hospital. Tragically only one in ten of these patients currently survive. CPR training will give you the knowledge and confidence to know how to respond in the crucial minutes before help arrives.

“This course will enable participants to recognise and manage a casualty who is unconscious and not breathing and provide a lifesaving technique which can sustain life,” she said.

Former Palmerston GP and current Grand Master of Freemasonry SA & NT, Dr Neil Jensen added that he hopes the initiative improves catastrophic health outcomes.

“If learning CPR could save just one life, we have made a difference in building resilience in our communities. This funding will enable 750 Territorians to learn a valuable technique which will strengthen our communities and assist in reducing the number of deaths due to cardiac arrest.”

The Masonic Charities sponsored CPR courses are nationally accredited and set to commence in the NT in July this year. All participants will receive a certificate and first aid kit to equip them with the necessary supplies to remain first aid ready at home.