AMBULANCE TRANSPORT

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21583, 20 November 1941, Page 4

AMBULANCE TRANSPORT

DIFFICULT COUNTRY CAMBRIDGE EXPERIENCE (Special to Tlntee) CAMBRIDGE, Wednesday The great value of St. John Ambulance transport to any district, especially in the country, was demonstrated at Cambridge on Tuesday night v/hen the ambulance was called to transport a serious case to the Waikato Hospital from an inaccessible district. The ambulance did not return to the depot until 3 a.m. After a 50-mile trip, a difficult carry for a distance of one mile over swamp, ploughed ground, slippery clay faces and electric fences, the work was accomplished. This work in the pitch black night, with rain beginning to fall, tried the capacity of the bearers, who acquitted themselves with credit. The carry was made necessary by the rough ground and the inadvisability of transporting a serious case by ambulance under such conditions. The case was handled by four men, one on each corner, with a spare man to act as relay. The patient was delivered in good shape at the ambulance and ultimately to the Waikato Hospital. Dr. H. C. Tod, who attended the case, also acted as stretcher-bearer over part of the difficult going, and supervised the removal to the ambulance. The men returned to the station, after what was described as a nightmare’s job, in a very muddy and tired condition.