World First Aid Day: St John volunteer Nick Castles urges Wagga community to learn life-saving skills

The St John Ambulance deployment team leader says as many people as possible should be trained in even basic first aid skills.

"Pretty much all of it is knowing how to treat someone who's not breathing properly, who's having trouble with their airways and someone who potentially has gone through a cardiac event," he said.

St John Ambulance NSW says just 5 per cent of Australians are first aid trained, which is one of the lowest rates in the world.

"Pretty much we teach basic skills that will help them, if they come across a situation ... that they know what to do," he said.

"So how to manage an external bleed, how to treat oxygen, pain, trauma".

Mr Castles is encouraging Wagga residents to learn life-saving skills such as CPR and defibrillator use this World First Aid Day on September 12.

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"Certainly we attempt to get as many people as we can into our courses to be able to get the help that they need just in case something does happen at home they know what they can do," Mr Castles said.

Mr Castles said there was a strong interest in learning first aid skills among members of the Wagga community.

"Everyone's like, 'We want to learn and know how to do it' but at the same time they probably don't know quite what to do when the time comes around," he said.

To enrol in a first aid course, learn more about first aid or sign up as a volunteer visit www.stjohnnsw.com.au