Ambulances need new base

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 578, 21 March 1995, Page 14

Ambulances need new base

The St John Ambulance Service staff are enthusiastically supporting moves to establish a St John area committee in the Ohakune / Raetihi area. Chief ambulance Officer Gregory Phillips said the ambulance staff were working on three fronts to strengthen and further improve ambulance services in the Waimarino area. 'The first step is to support the move to establish a St John Area Committee," he said. "One of the important roles of area committees is to provide the ambulance service with feedback from the community — to tell us how well we are meeting local needs. The committees are also a good way for us to promote programmes such as our insurance scheme, which provides cover against the $45.00 part charges we are required to recover from some patients, and the pendant alarm systems we will be introducing in the next few months."

Mr Phillips said the other two areas that needed attention were the provision of a more suitable base, and the recruitment of more volunteer ambulance officers. "At present the ambulance is based at the Waimarino Rural Health Centre, but with Good Health 's plans to quit the site now well advanced, there is a need to establish a suitable St John centre in the area," he said. "The facility needs to accommodate all St John's activities in the area. As well as providing a base for ambulance crews it should also have facilities for first aid courses and other training. We have been considering some options, but the area committee should also be involved in that project. The service is keen to recruit additional volunteer ambulance officers to work with the small, dedicated team crewing the ambulance at present, and to improve the resources available in times of major emergency.