St John Ambulance Australia, in partnership with the National Road Transport Association (NatRoad), are pleased to announce that 1,000 truck drivers have now been trained through an innovative online program, which has been available since October 2023.
Truck drivers are often the First Responders at the scene of a crash or other roadside medical emergency. Even with the fastest ambulance response times, first aid interventions in the early minutes can be essential and lifesaving. The milestone of the first one thousand participants in ‘Truckie First Aid’ is an important step towards empowering transport industry workers and mobilising First Aid skills across Australia’s road network.
Truckie First Aid was developed by St John Ambulance Australia in consultation with industry experts from NatRoad. The program takes best practice training principles and First Aid protocols, and makes them accessible through free, online learning that is tailored to the audience.
St John Ambulance Australia’s Chief Operations Officer, Adrian Watts was involved in the development, and acknowledges the significance of the program.
“It’s such a useful course, empowering Truckies with the knowledge and skills to be able to respond to a first aid emergency while they’re on the road. We want to say thanks to the first thousand participants who have really embraced it.”
“Courses like this allow us to get First Aid knowledge and skills into the hands of our Australian public in a practical way that relates to their daily work and lifestyle.”
Sadly, annual road deaths and injuries continue to rise, 634 lives have been lost on Australian roads already this year, according to latest government data*. First aid rates in Australia remain low compared to other developed nations, however a 2023 poll of Australian adults** found that First Aid Training more than doubled the confidence to provide care to someone in emergency situations.
Warren Clark, CEO of NatRoad, acknowledged the importance of the program for their membership. “Every day there are thousands of trucks on our roads across the country, including regional and some very remote stretches of road, and truck drivers are often first on the scene of an accident, where every second counts. This training provides operators with the lifesaving skills and confidence to help in those first critical minutes.”
“I’d like to thank St John Ambulance Australia for working with us to create this course specifically for truck operators. It’s great to see so many of our members stepping up and completing the training.”
Truckie First Aid is a free eLearning course that takes just 30-40 minutes to complete, and guides participants through essential first aid skills, with a certificate issued upon completion. Knowledge and skills are drawn from the DRSABCD First Aid action plan, and include interventions such as keeping an airway open, stemming a bleed, or performing CPR.
Whilst St John Ambulance Australia encourages people to undertake accredited First Aid training and to maintain their skills, this course and others like it, allow priority audiences to be reached, improving their First Aid self-agency and contributing to a better First Aid safety net for Australian communities.
Access to the course has also been made easy with a QR code, which has been promoted in Prime Creative Media publications. The QR code has also been printed onto Written Work Diaries, thanks to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. The link is also accessible on the Road Safety page on the Nat Roads website.
The course is available to all Truckies at truckiefirstaid.org.au
*Australian Government Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (June 2024)
**YouGov survey commissioned by St John Ambulance Australia (June 2023)
