Not everyone that experiences a sudden cardiac arrest lives to tell their story. Thanks to St John WA, I’m here to tell mine.

Last year, I suffered from a cardiac arrest that saw me pronounced medically ‘dead’. It was the St John Ambulance team, together with my two beautiful children who previously were first aid trained by St John, that kept my heart in the right rhythm to bring me back to life.

This could have been the end of my life, but thanks to St John WA and my children, it wasn’t. I’m just one of many lives that St John WA has touched over the past year, but now we risk the service being broken.

St John WA's service is currently being called into question by a Parliamentary Standing Committee Inquiry into the delivery of its ambulance services. If the Committee running the inquiry recommends the ambulance service be taken away from St John and its volunteers, the system we all designed together as a community could be disrupted and derailed.

After what happened to me, I wouldn’t trust anyone other than St John Ambulance to deliver this service. It’s for this reason that I’m calling on West Australians to support St John by signing this petition to save the network that has been built by our community, for our community.

It’s now our turn to give back the support that St John WA has provided our community with for the past century.

 #IsupportStJohnWA

Read on for the full story

************************

It was a typical day working from home and I was going about my usual business… until I collapsed. My breathing stopped and I became unconscious. I didn’t know this at the time, but I was suffering a sudden cardiac arrest.

Hearing the thump of my collapse, my family came rushing quickly to my aid. My wife Judy immediately dialled 000 and was put through to a St John WA officer. The officer guided my son and daughter, Alex and Jordana, on how to give me CPR. They each took turns providing chest compressions for 16 minutes. She reassured my children that they were doing the right thing and to not give up on me.

Despite their efforts, when the ambulance arrived, I was still medically ‘dead’ but it was their ongoing compressions that kept my heart in a rhythm so that when the St John Ambulance team came they could shock and restart my heart to bring me back to life, before rushing me to the hospital for further treatment.

This could have been the end of my life, but thanks to St John WA and my children, it wasn’t. I’m just one of many lives that St John WA has touched over the past year, but now we risk a disruption with the ambulance service we’ve come to trust for 100 years.

St John WA's service is currently being called into question by a Parliamentary Standing Committee Inquiry into the delivery of its ambulance services. My fear is the St John WA network of services will be negatively impacted if we try and emulate other states that aren’t the same as WA.

For over a century St John WA has supported Western Australians, on hand to assist on any day, at any hour. For me, this assistance was the difference between life and death.

It’s for this reason that I’m calling on West Australians to support St John by signing this petition to save the network that has been built by our community, for our community.

It’s now our turn to support St John.