Our very own “Aunty Val” and ACT’s Senior of the Year is in the running to become 2022 Senior Australian of the Year for her tireless effort of delivering emergency first aid training to save Canberran lives.

Valmai Dempsey, affectionately known as Aunty Val within the local St John’s community, has dedicated the past 61 of her 71 years to volunteering with the ambulance service, to ensure Canberra is a healthy and safe community.

Aunty Val has clocked over 600 hours of volunteer service by leading first-aid training sessions, providing support at local Canberra events and activities, and working with the Covid-19 response team – and that was just in 2021 alone.

Her selfless and genuine goal over the coming decade is to turn the nation’s learner drivers into the next generation of ‘mobile life savers’ by advocating for first aid courses to be a requirement to qualify for a driver’s licence.

“As ACT Senior of the Year, I see it as my duty to raise awareness of issues that are close to my heart and to promote solutions to make our community an even safer place to be,” Aunty Val said. 

“The first people on the scene of an accident are usually fellow road users. I would like to see a time when all bystanders have the first aid training, competence and confidence to put those skills to use in those vital minutes before an ambulance arrives.”

The experienced nurse has the backing of St John’s Ambulance Australia, with the newly appointed national CEO, Brendan Maher, strongly supporting her initiative.

Mr Maher noted that the draft National Road Safety Strategy must take into account the need for rapid and confident post-crash responses from bystanders, if Australia is to reduce death and trauma on the road by 30 per cent.

“I have dedicated my life to assisting others in need and equip them with skills and confidence to be able to help others and deal with an emergency,” said Aunty Val.

“As a nation, we can rethink our approach to those critical minutes between life and death at the scene of an accident and make community members part of the solution.”

The Australian of the Year Awards celebrate the achievements and contributions of inspirational people who go above and beyond for their communities. The 2022 Awards will be presented in Canberra by the Prime Minister on 25 January and broadcast on ABC TV from 7.30pm (AEDT).

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