St John WA opens the doors of its Great Southern District Office on Sanford Road to show what it does

A rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of the operation that keeps the Great Southern safe is available on Saturday as the St John WA office on Sanford Road opens its doors to the community.

St John’s new Great Southern District Office will welcome residents from 10am to 2pm for a free community open day in honour of World First Aid Day.

Attendees can explore the sub-centre and depot, which opened in April this year, meet volunteers, get an up-close view of an ambulance, watch first aid demonstrations and learn about what happens when an emergency call comes in.

Deeper dives into the building will be available for the curious via limited 20-minute building tours that include access to operational areas where ambulance calls are received and emergency responses are coordinated at 10am, 11am and noon.

A realistic demonstration of a serious road crash response, including freeing a person from a wreckage and providing emergency first aid, called Road Trauma Live: Extrication and Care in Action will take place at 1pm.

Great Southern District operations manager Toni Melia said the open day was a rare chance to see the inner workings of St John operations.

“Most people only see St John when they’re having an emergency, so this is a chance to come along when nobody is having a bad day and see what happens behind the scenes,” she said.

“Our volunteers are part of the fabric of the Great Southern community, and we’d love people to come in, meet them, have a chat and discover more about what we do.”

“You never know when you might be the person standing next to someone who needs help,” Toni said.

“Knowing what to do in those first few minutes can make an enormous difference.”

Face painting, a sausage sizzle, giveaways, competitions and kids’ activities will also take place on the day.

Further information and tickets for the building tours are available via Try Booking.