Corporate entry
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Australian Women
Corporate entry
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Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD) (1914 - ) |
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| Function: Community organisation | ||||
Voluntary Aid Detachments were established during World War I by members of the Australian Red Cross and the Order of St John. Members received instruction in first aid and home nursing from the St John Ambulance Association. Initially they worked without pay in hospitals and convalescent homes alongside doctors and nurses. After the war the voluntary service continued. Recruits were drawn from the local area by invitation from a serving member. During the World War II Voluntary Aid Detachment members were given more medical training, but they were not fully qualified nurses. Voluntary Aides worked in convalescent hospitals, on hospital ships and in the blood bank, as well as on the home front. In New South Wales Voluntary Aid Detachments are now part of the Voluntary Aid Service Corps (VASC). To become a member of the Corps, volunteers must hold a current Senior First Aid Certificate. Members provide free first aid at major sporting and cultural events as well as assistance in times of disaster. |
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The Australian Red Cross began organising Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) nation-wide as part of Lady Helen Munro Ferguson's appeal "to the women of Australia" at the onset of World War I. They soon came to be largely comprised of women. Their scheme followed the policy of the British War Office, and the British Red Cross Society, of which Australia was developing a branch. A number of women had also enrolled in a Voluntary Aid Detachment in 1914 as part of the formation of the New South Wales branch of the British Red Cross Society. By August 1915, the Australian branch of the British Red Cross reported that Victoria and Tasmania also had Voluntary Aid Detachments. In addition Special Voluntary Aid Detachment Committees had been formed in each State Division, and a Committee of the Central Council had been formed. Recognised by the Military, the Voluntary Aid Detachments were at their peak in World War I and World War II, providing first aid, nursing assistance, comforts, domestic assistance and other supports for returned and wounded soldiers. In between the two World Wars, they continued their care for ex-soldiers and their families, raised funds, and moved into civil hospitals, homes and health associations. In 1928, they became a technical reserve of the Army Medical Corps, administered under the Minister of Defence through a Joint Central Council. After World War II, they extended their civilian service, which included the assistance of new immigrants. In January 1948, direct control of the Voluntary Aid Detachments was returned to the Australian Red Cross and St John Ambulance Society. Yet many Voluntary Aid Detachments folded as time went on, States withdrew from this area, and staff worked in a range of other Australian Red Cross services. In New South Wales, however, the Voluntary Aid Detachments were renamed and revamped as the Voluntary Aid Service Corps in 1967, where they still remain active. Events
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| Sources used to compile this entry: Just wanted to be there : Australian Service Nurses 1899-1999 researched and written by Richard Reid, From Blue to Khaki : The enlisted voluntary aids and others who became members of the Australian Army Medical Women's Service and served from 1941-1951 by Betty J Mount-Batten, Red Cross Vas : A History of the VAD Movement in New South Wales by Melanie Oppenheimer, Look what you started Henry by Leon Stubbings, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 : Australia During the War Vol. XI edited by Ernest Scott, http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/vad.htm accessed 20030812 and http://minister.dva.gov.au/media_releases/2001/august/history119.htm accessed 20030722. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Published by National Foundation for Australian Women on Australian Women's Archives Project Web Site Comments, questions, corrections and additions: awap@womenaustralia.info Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 23 December 2008 http://womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0491b.htm |