The Chief Executive Officer of St John Western Australia, has been in Guernsey this week.

Michelle Fyfe had a tour of the ambulance station on the Rohais, where she learnt about the different sections of St John in Guernsey. Mrs Fyfe is also meeting operational staff from the Emergency Ambulance Service and volunteers from St John Ambulance Guernsey.

During the visit Mrs Fyfe travelled to Herm on the Flying Christine III marine ambulance to meet volunteer Community First Responders.

“It takes a system to save a life. An emergency ambulance can only do so much, but what you need is a community response – Community First Responders, people trained in first aid, publicly accessible defibrillators. Whether it is in Guernsey, Australia or elsewhere the community needs to be invested in these things and that is what St John can do.”

“There are only four places in the world where St John provides the emergency ambulance service, so there are lots of similarities, but some local differences.”

One aspect of St John’s work in Guernsey which particularly impressed Mrs Fyfe was the St John HealthCare shop: “I was super impressed with the St John shop and the stairlifts and lifting chairs which are provided for the community, which is something we don’t do.”

“We all have the same vision and mission worldwide. It is all about commitment to humanity and our community”

The visit is being hosted by the Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp and Deputy Chief Officer Dean de la Mare together with the Chairman of St John Ambulance Guernsey Roy Tilleard.

Chief Ambulance Officer, Mark Mapp said: “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to meet Michelle and to hear more about the work of St John in Western Australia. We have been sharing ideas and learning from each other in many ways. Both Michelle and I are new to our roles and we have almost identical strategic thinking, values and beliefs. We both think big and are looking at new technologies to help us deliver the best patient care and experiences.”

Michelle Fyfe was appointed as the CEO of St John Western Australia last year and is the first woman to lead the organisation in its 125 year history. Mrs Fyfe joined St John after a long career in the Western Australia police service which saw her promoted to the senior role of Assistant Commissioner of WAPOL.

St John Ambulance Western Australia operates the emergency ambulance service for Perth and the surrounding areas with a combination of full-time staff on the Metro Ambulances and volunteers on the Country Ambulance. The charity also provides first aid training, Community First Responders, patient transport services, urgent care centres and medical event cover for the region, which covers about the same size as Western Europe. Although there is a big difference in the scale of the operation, there are a number of similarities between St John Western Australia and St John in Guernsey.

The visit also included a tour of JESCC (the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre) and the St John training centre at Les Cotils.