ST JOHN AND CYCLONE TRACY - 50 years of St John as the Ambulance provider in the Northern Territory

ST JOHN AND CYCLONE TRACY - 50 years of St John as the Ambulance provider in the Northern Territory

Cyclone Tracy response headquarters

Parap Ambulance Station

Parap Ambulance Station served as St John NT’s headquarters in the early 1960s. The building was officially opened in 1963 and named the “Reg Marsh Building” after the Assistant Administrator.

At the time of the cyclone, St John provided a volunteer ambulance service outside of business hours in Darwin, supporting the Darwin Hospital and operating out of the Parap Ambulance Station.

On Christmas morning, St John NT’s headquarters quickly became a major first aid post staffed by St John volunteers and their families.

Tents set up outside Parap Ambulance station
SA St John Ambulances, photo John Pohl
In their words
Our St John Volunteer heroes
Pat King

Pat King, Ambulance Nurse
In her story Pat describes horrific sounds, constant rain and wind, banding together with the crew on duty and their families and narrowly avoiding an air conditioner as it blown across the watch room upstairs.

Grant Keetly, Core Staff Officer (Cadets)
Grant Keetley who had come on duty as Officer in Charge with his family at midnight led the way.

Rod Bramley, Alan Bromwich, Phil Langdon with the Bromwich Cup

Rod Bramley, Transport Officer
When a call came through from Emergency Services, he knocked off his day job as a mechanic at the Motor Vehicle Registry and headed to the ambulance centre to make preparations.

Further reading
Historical documents

Links to Frank’s books

We would like to acknowledge the late Frank Dunstan CStJ who has made a significant contribution to the recording and maintenance of the history of St John Ambulance Australia Inc in the Northern Territory.

This information contained in this website includes excerpts from his book ‘Awkward Hours, Awkward Jobs – A History of St John Ambulance in the Northern Territory 1915 – 2012 The Volunteers’.

Frank Dunstan
Find out more about this historical milestone from local historian Frank Dunstan.

A most deserved recognition of service

In the aftermath of the cyclone the Parap Station was staffed by a myriad of emergency services staff who banded together with doctors and other health professionals. Casualties were treated on the spot by roving ambulance crews and the more seriously injured were transported to casualty and to the hospital. Crews also had the grim task of taking care of the deceased and transporting them to the funeral parlour.

All those who contributed to this effort are to be commended including their families.

St John NT continues to operate the ambulance service today and remains steadfast in its mission to save lives and build community resilience.

We would like to thank members of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ John Pohl, Malcom Pascoe and Lee Francis for the supply of images and historical documentation. 

We would like to acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors

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