Ambos donate to festival

DARWIN Festival will be better prepared in giving emergency first aid, thanks to a donation from St John Ambulance.

The organisation has provided an automatic external defibrillator to the festival, so lifesaving first aid can be administered.

The device was made available to Darwin Festival as part of an NT government community benefit grant.

Operators have reassured the public that more than 40 per cent of the festival’s staff, including all security staff, are trained in first aid and CPR.

St John NT chief executive Judith Barker said the emergency service was proud to support events in making themselves as safe as possible.

“We want community events and organisations to feel confident in delivering first aid to those who need it,” Ms Barker said.

“Most organisations have the resources required to deliver their own first aid services, they just need a bit of a jump start.”

Roughly 33,000 Australians suffer from a cardiac arrest annually and defibrillators are crucial to ensuring people survive a heart attack.

Darwin Festival chief executive James Gough said the new defibrillator would “allow us greater coverage in emergencies”. “We aim to be able to provide the best first aid to all who might require it,” Mr Gough said.