Tribute to 52 years on the St John front line

At 76, Trevor Brljevich is the longest-serving front line St John volunteer in Northland.
Even after spending 52 years with the ambulance service, the Maungaturoto widower still has plenty of energy - though he quietly admitted his days as a volunteer may be numbered.
Trevor was one of 13 pioneer members of the then Maungaturoto St John Ambulance Division in September 1955. Of the three still alive, he's the only one on front-line duty.
Trevor started as a private and rose through the ranks of corporal, sergeant, officer, superintendent, serving brother and officer brother. He was promoted to commander of the Order of St John in 1999, a position he currently holds.
He says he knows a good 75 percent of the people he's called on to help with medical treatment or transport to hospital. It's not knowing who needs help until he gets there that makes the job interesting.
"I attended to my mother-in-law six years ago and had to defibrillate her. She was 92 and she's still going strong, though she broke her femur 16 months ago.
"I also attended to my son who was injured in a dairy factory 12 years ago and my nephew who had concussion after a football match," he says.
He recalls an occasion when a 10-year-old girl he treated two years ago turned up at his home with a chocolate cake after making a full recovery.
But he's also encountered ugly situations, such as dealing with the severely injured or the dead.
"The worst bus accident in New Zealand took place in Brynderwyn on February 7, 1963, when 15 people died and 21 were injured.
"They were all coming back from a Waitangi Day celebration. It happened at 1pm. The bus was descending the hill and failed to take the last bend just above the quarry."
He says locals supplied tents that were used as first aid stations and paramedics were allocated patients to look after.
"I was looking after the bus driver, Harold Parker of Tuakau. He had arterial bleeding and I had to apply pressure and bandages to control the bleeding."
A bus transported the injured to the Whangarei Hospital.
Trevor says the satisfaction he gets from helping others and the great camaraderie among fellow officers kept him going. "I joined because I wanted to do something to help the community."
But 52 years as an ambulance officer wouldn't be possible without family support - "that's something people don't realise. Family members are really the unsung heroes."
He says training volunteers is tough these days because of the time involved. "There are so many skills required. It's more than first aid. Accidents account for only one third of our callouts," he said.
"Most of them are medical call-outs which are the most difficult because so many things can go wrong."
Nor are Trevor's skills limited to the ambulance service - last year he was the first Kiwi to win the Dix Pennings Award in Holland, recognising him as one of the world's best plant breeders.
His interest in carnations and calla lilies started when he was working in his father's nursery in Birkenhead, Auckland. When he was 21 his uncle, who was having a hard time recruiting farm labourers, took him to Maungaturoto.
St John operations manager for Northland, Donna Austin, says Trevor is always cool, calm and collected, regardless of the situation. In his 52 years of volunteering he had gained a wealth of experience and was an invaluable asset for St John's newer members to draw from.
"His voluntary commitment to our organisation and the community of Maungaturoto is truly incredible," she says.
"Trevor exemplifies the St John ethos by demonstrating the core values of teamwork, empathy, integrity and professionalism."