Wiluna community gets skilled up for summer
It was all happening in Wiluna last week as Royal Life Saving WA’s newly appointed Talent Pool Project Manager, Cameron Eglington, came to town to teach vital lifesaving and water safety skills. Wiluna is a small town in the Mid West region of our state, on the edge of the Western Desert and at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It's home to between 200 and 600 Aboriginal residents depedent on the time of year and traditional law ceremonies taking place.
The recent training sessions in the town were supported by our Principal Community Partner BHP as part of the Talent Pool program. Talent Pool aims to engage with young people and key community stakeholders to teach vital life skills that can lead to real employment opportunities for young people, enabling them to become pool lifeguards, swim teachers and pool managers. The Principal of Wiluna Remote Community School, Bernadette Delany, was pleased to welcome Cameron to the school as he conducted a series of training days for students and staff, along with Pool Lifeguards from the local community.
During last week 18 students and 11 staff took part in first aid workshops set up at the school, with the sessions focussing on resuscitation, burns treatment, bandaging and the use of slings and splints. Further to the fun student workshops, five staff completed their Provide First Aid qualification, updating their skills and knowledge to ensure they are able to assist in responding to a medical incident whenever needed. One of the school’s Educational Assistant Teaches, Katie Lindquist, also managed to complete her qualification as an aquatic trainer!
It was a particularly busy week for six of the staff, who, besides taking part in the first aid training, also completed their Wade and Dry Rescues, with five even updating their Bronze Medallion qualifications at the nearby Wiluna Community Pool. We're pleased to see so many people from the Wiluna community learn these vital skills, and are excited about where these may take them in the months and years to come.