Sonia Soltoggio, Lainey Johnson, Samuel Maguire, Royal Life Saving's Francesca Amoroso and Bruce Emslie

Guest speakers and award winners at Trainer PD day

28 Community Trainers attended a professional development session at the Royal Life Saving WA offices in Mt Claremont today, where they heard from a range of professional speakers on interesting topics relating to the health, first aid and aquatic industries.

The first presenter was Chris Emery, a professional lifeguard and teacher who is currently training as a paramedic. An engaging speaker, Chris discussed lifeguarding issues and aquatic supervision techniques, as well as new learnings and strategies being used in first aid and emergency response.

The group then heard a moving presentation by Symon Still, Injury Prevention Manager at PBF Australia, who suffered a T1 spinal injury in his early twenties that rendered him a paraplegic. Symon discussed the nature and scale of various types of spinal injuries that can occur, before recounting his own personal story.

Symon’s assistance dog, Henry, was a popular visitor with the group (although, having heard Symon’s story before, he wasn’t paying much attention and was instead enjoying a good belly rub!).

After the morning tea break the group heard from speaker Carolyn Minto, SunSmart Campaign Coordinator at the Cancer Council of Western Australia. Carolyn discussed general cancer prevention with a focus on being sun smart, with some great advice around being conscious of UV radiation regardless of how cool or cloudy the weather is.

The final speaker for the day was Royal Life Saving WA’s Rachael Murray, who discussed the latest findings in the recently released National Drowning Report from Royal Life Saving Australia. To download a copy of the report, visit this link.

Awards were then presented to four of the trainers for their excellent work in delivering lifesaving skills to the community. Three high school teachers received the WA Presidents Award for their efforts in teaching Bronze Medallion and Resuscitation awards to students at their respective schools. They were Bruce Emslie of Como Secondary College, Samuel Maguire of Melville Senior High School and Sonia Soltoggio from Warwick Senior High School. 

The fourth award was presented to Lainey Johnson, who first achieved her own Bronze Medallion in 2001 before becoming a Bronze Examiner in 2003. She has been delivering Bronze Medallion and Resuscitation awards in the Perth metro area since then and was recognised today for her ongoing work with Royal Life Saving WA spanning more than 15 years. Lainey received a WA Meritorious Service Order award for her amazing efforts.

Congratulations to our four award winners and thank you to everyone who attended the session, keep up the great work!