From the 26th of April to the 29th, St John Ambulance and the AYAN Team were down in Tasmania for the National Member Convention, this year themed: In Our Blood. As my first Member Convention, my blood was more caffeine than anything else. It’s been an awesome, crazy few days and there’s a lot of cool things to reflect on from it.
So, as a newbie and a plebe to how these things work, I’m hoping that you and I can take a journey with me about the last few days and hopefully by the end understand a bit more about what’s gone on in Hobart.
Now, as soon as I said the words convention “lanyards” probably popped into your head and rapidly took over your lives, the reality is not far from that truth, but it wasn’t just big seminars and informative talks as seen on SJ One (they’re online too if you’d like to go back and have another look). National Management Teams (including AYAN, woo!) have had meetings at the beginning and tail end of the conference in Tassie. The National Board, CEOs, the National Cadet Group, the Medical Advisory Panel and many more all met over the course of the conference for AGMs and meetings on the future of St John.
Of course, the largest of these events was the Historical Society Seminar on Friday. Highlights include the presentation of a history of the Grand Prior’s award in a document with a whopping 12 000 words by the dedicated Mr Trevor Mayhew. Talks on resuscitation and its evolution in Australia, splints and the development of many of the medical technologies we take for granted in First Aid Posts. Amongst all of this was the Historical Society AGM where AYAN’s very own Michael Andrews was elected as a national committee member, unopposed, props to Michael for getting involved with such an important society in St John!
Friday night was a valuable time for conference delegates to go out and enjoy all that Hobart can offer (some enjoyed it a little too much) there was live music in a local park and the promise of wood oven pizza drew us AYAN kids out to explore. There were receptions to receive the Lord Prior of the Order of St John Malcolm Ross and the National Cadet Group held their dinner that evening as well.
That’s it for now! More coming on the MASSIVE Saturday here in Hobart.
