Description:Stafford Headquarters Nursing Cadet Division tackle their team test in the St. John Ambulance Brigade County Cadet final competitions held at the King Edward VI School hall on Saturday 15 November 1952.
The St. John Nursing Cadets Junior section of the competition was won by the Stafford Odeon Nursing Cadet Division. They had a total of 232 marks, which was six more than their nearest rivals, Midland Electric and Ocker Hill. The Stafford Odeon team were: Sheila Woodcock, Sheila Simpson, Anne Piper and Dorothy Denning, all aged between 13 and 15. Later they would represent Staffordshire in the Midland Regional final held in Hereford on 24 January 1953. The winners at Hereford would represent the Midlands at the national final in London in March 1953.
In their team test, the Nursing Cadets had to render aid to a girl who was presumed to have injured herself in falling from a wall at a school sports meeting. The Stafford Odeon Division gained most marks in the team tests and the individual test. Runners up were Midland Electric and Ocker Hill, followed by Wolverhampton, Bloxwich and Stafford Headquarters.
The Junior Ambulance competition was won by Bloxwich Division followed by Burton, Cannock and Tipton Parish. Bucknall withdrew owing to illness of a team member. Their realistically portrayed team test was an “accident” in which two cyclists were presumed to have been injured in a collision with a car in a narrow lane in a lonely district. The Judge, Divisional Surgeon Dr I E Whitehill said afterwards that it was based on a road accident he had witnessed. Little assistance was available and ingenuity was called for. Teams quick to appreciate the situation gained the highest marks. In a competition for Senior Ambulance Cadets, Cannock was unopposed.
The competitions were arranged by the County Secretary of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, Mr V Chancellor, and the Judges were Divisional Surgeon Dr I E Whitehill, Divisional Surgeon Dr J S Hamilton, Area Cadet Officer F E S Jones (Ambulance), Divisional Surgeon Dr G Bergheimer, Sister D Eden, S.R.N., and A/Area Cadet Officer Mrs L Rushton (Nursing). The County Commissioner Captain F L Richard presided at the presentation of trophies, which was performed by County Cadet President, Lady Diana Matthews.
This photograph was published in the Staffordshire Newsletter on Saturday 22 November 1952. Reproduced by kind permission of the Staffordshire Newsletter who retain copyright.