St John Ambulance cadet Ashton Arokiaswamy calls out to youth

That number has dropped to just 10 people today, across all-ages.

Recently bumped up to cadet status, a proud 12 year old Ashton Arokiaswamy says he'd love to see more young peers join these ranks.

"It's good learning and there are heaps of other people from all kinds of places who are also [with St John's], so you get to meet new people and make new friends," he said.

"We go on loads of camps to different places and the last camp that I went to was canoeing at Broken Hill, so that was really nice and we just have fun."

He's also been adding invaluable skills under his belt during the past three-years as a junior with the branch.

With a lot on offer for kids similar to his age, he says that St John's medical teachings and injury-related workshops has handy information that isn't widely known.

"We do training and talk about things like how to fix broken bones, what causes certain injuries, or how to treat different burns which was definitely something didn't know about; types of burns and just how severe they can be," he said.

"We also work on mannequins and do art on ourselves to see what wounds can look like [which is called casualty simulation] and I really like that as well, because it's that's really fun to do on other people."

Mr Arokiaswamy says he feels his past and continued involvement with the cadets will help him in the future.

Whether he decides to pursue a career in the medical field or otherwise, he says it "feels really good" to have the knowledge that if an incident occurs - he'll be well-versed on what to do next.

"It feels really good to know that anyone would be able to ask you for help in those situations, that you'd know how to help them," he said,

"I like knowing that I can be responsible for those people and maybe I'll even rescue someone one day."

Second in charge of the Molong branch, divisional officer Kerry Burchett says that young people being a part of St John Ambulance gives them a range of opportunities across the board.

While juniors are from eight years old until 11 or 12 and then become cadets from 12 to 18, there are plenty of ways to climb the ranks.

"Later in their teenage years they can start doing officer training, like cadet corporal training, sergeant training, and cadet leader training," Ms Burchett said.

"And as a leader they can then stay with the cadet division until the age of 25 if they want to as well, and we've had kids with us that have then gone on to become paramedics, nurses, and occupational therapists."

Another highlight for youth members is that junior and cadetship is more than the health and medical side of things.

Along with the new friendships they form, Ms Burchett says they're also mentored when it comes to communication and teamwork.

"It's not all about the first aid component either, we work on developing social skills with the kids as well," she said.

"We've had plenty of kids sign-up that people have probably doubted in terms of leadership and responsibility, but they've ended up doing some pretty amazing things."

Returning in early February, Molong's St John branch meets each Thursday night from 6pm to 8pm in the Molong Central School hall.

Its 2023 recruitment day is locked in for February 23 from 6pm, where performance demonstrations and new enrolments will be accepted.

Members are urging parents to bring their kids along as the branch remans determined to get its numbers back on the up.

"It's a new program this year with all-new presentations, as well," Ms Burchett said, "everyone's welcome to join and we'd love to see as many new faces as we can."

To find out more information about the St John Youth program, head online to the organisation's website.

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