St John Association of Malta
Who we are
St John Ambulance Malta was established in 1882 and was the first branch of St John Ambulance formed outside of the United Kingdom. Today its governing body, the St John Council oversees three branches:- Training, First Aid & Nursing and the Rescue Corps, which is unique in the St John world.
St John history features prominently in Malta. It was the headquarters of The Order for 200 years from 1530, when the King of Spain, Emperor Charles V gave tenure of Malta to the Knights of St John after Rhodes (their headquarters from 1310) was captured by the Turks. The Knights built the capital city of Valletta named after Jean de la Vallette, the Grand Master.
St John’s Headquarters are in Valletta and there are 17 Divisions around the island.
Malta at a glance
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is a small and densely populated island nation comprising an archipelago of seven islands in the Mediterranean Sea, situated between Sicily and North Africa. The country's official languages are Maltese and English. Roman Catholicism is the most practised religion. Malta has been a member state of the European Union (EU) since 2004 and it is currently the smallest EU country both in population and in area. Tourism is one Malta’s chief source of income, and the number of tourists visiting each year heavily outnumbers the islands population.
What we do
Training:
First Aid training is carried out for St John Ambulance members, government departments, private companies, various organisations, university students and members of the public. The number of First Aid courses held and certificates issued has risen each year during the past ten years. The Training Branch celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2007.
First Aid and Nursing:
Established in 1909, this branch has a fleet of six ambulances which are used for transport and public duties. This includes an ambulance donated by the Edwina Mountbatten Trust in 1991 and most recently an ambulance donated to Malta by St John Ambulance - Surrey. Regular duties include manning beach First Aid posts over the summer months, the Malta Marathon, triathlons, supporting production teams during filming, concerts other mass gatherings, Royal visits, and numerous sporting events including horse racing, moto-cross and athletics.
Rescue Corps:
Established in 1990, the Corps is based at Fort Madalena - an early 19th century British Fort loaned by the Maltese government. The purpose of the Rescue Corps is to provide a voluntary organisation of fully trained personnel able to carry out specialised rescue operations efficiently when required by the authorities in times of major disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, harbour emergencies and air crashes.
It is run on military lines and consists of 5 divisions. Each division consists of approximately 52 volunteers. A division is composed of six Rescue Sections with eight members in each section. The volunteers are all trained in First Aid, plus specialist skills such as heavy rescue, cliff rescue, bomb disposal, fire fighting and diving. Recent activities undertaken by the Corps have included: air/sea rescue training using military helicopters, demonstrations during VIP visits, standby duty at the International Power Boat races, summer beach patrols, concerts and other mass gatherings. A number of inshore rescues have been carried out in the south of the island.
Badgers and Cadets:
There are Badger and Cadet Sections in two of three of the divisions.
Links with Other St John Organisation:
Twinning: Malta has two twinning agreements. One which has been in effect since 1993 is with the London Prince of Wales District. This partnership has enabled two Training Development Advisors to be trained and qualified to run a more efficient Training Branch.
This year, Malta and St John Surrey signed a twinning agreement. Surrey has been extremely helpful with keeping Malta updated on the new first aid protocols. The Surrey Senior Management Team visited Malta for the signing of the agreement and also donated a used ambulance to Malta.
Members from Malta regularly visit their counterparts in the UK and continue to build on their strong bond.
Future Plans
- 2007 – Celebration of 125th anniversary of the “Association” in Malta
- 2009 – Celebration of 100th anniversary of the “Brigade” in Malta.
- 2009 – Hosting of the Grand Council Meeting