Order of St John awarded to local stalwart

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 45, 22 April 1986, Page 1

Order of St John awarded to local stalwart

After 49 years service in the local division of St. John Ambulance, George Murdie of Ohakune has been awarded the Order of St John. Mr Murdie will be presented with the Order by the Govenor-General, Sir Paul Reeves, at Ngaruawahia in late June. As superintendent of the Ohakune Railway Ambulance Division, Mr Murdie speaks on first aid to many organisations, including school groups, scouts, Plunket members and forestry staff. He said he had taken literally hundreds of first aid courses, so many he can't remember the exact number and he still goes to courses himself to learn new things. One of his main wishes is that first aid should be taught in schools. "It's the person who is on the spot first at an accident who needs to know first aid," he said. Mr Murdie himself has attended many accidents and helped victims survive. One of the most difficult incidents he has attended was a suicide attempt using poison. "It's one of the hardest I've ever done because you can't see what is wrong with the person and you are struggling to keep their life

and they're wanting to die," he said. Motor accidents involving drunken drivers are also difficult. Sometimes however he is called out to just talk to the sick and lonely. Not all the activities of a St. John ambulance officer are so saddening. He has had many a laugh, sometimes being taken as a policeman or a traffic officer, and also playing jokes on people with the lifelike manikin which is used for resuscitation training. Mr Murdie has already been given an award when he became a brother of the division for his dedication after 25 years service. He was presented with that award by the GovenorGeneral of the time. There are now five active members of the Ohakune Railway Ambulance Division, none of whom work for the railways. When the division started 49 years ago, there were only two members who did not work for the railways, one of them Mr Murdie. For 25 years he worked for Farmers Distributing Company, now Dalgety Crown. The members of the division have quietly helped people in the area for 50 years, without much recognition and publicity. We should be proud of them.