What is your job?
I am the territory manager for the Lakes area, which is the Bay of Plenty district
What does it entail?
My role is to ensure that our local crews are well prepared, highly skilled and capable of treating our patients to a high standard, in other words I'm here to help them achieve clinical excellence.
How big is the region you manage?
My territory covers the paid stations at Putaruru, Tokoroa and Rotorua and the volunteer only stations of Murapara, Mangakino and Reporoa.
Has there been a change of roles within the administration side of St John?
Recently there has been a change in the way we are choosing to support our local staff and this change has been driven out of the changing expectations of our patients and workloads. Fundamentally we are having to do more with the same amount of money and we are constantly looking for ways in which we can achieve this.
Does the general public understand how St John operates with paid staff and volunteers?
I think occasionally there is quite a bit of confusion around how St John operates. We are a charity and only part of our funding comes from the Government. This means that we can only operate the level of services that we do because of the generosity of the individuals who volunteer their time with us and the public who donate money. In terms of ambulance staff, a a level of cover is provided by paid staff members, mainly so we can ensure we can respond 24/7 in high demand areas. Those crews are completed with volunteers who work alongside them. In our rural areas whole crews are made up of volunteers. The public doesn't always realise that at least half the crew arriving in the ambulance are giving up their free time so the people in their communities can be looked after when they need it most. Behind every hour of duty are additional hours invested in training and development so that our volunteers have equivalent skills as the paid staff.
What does St John need from the general public?
We should never forget that St John is a charity so we always need donations, bequests or people to join our supporters scheme. There are other things people can do to help us like checking the house number is clear and easily seen from the street, this helps us to get to you quickly. Ensuring we can get down your drive way.
Do you need volunteers?
We always need volunteers, not just on the ambulances, though this is our greatest need across all our urban and rural stations. If someone calls an ambulance and it turns up with a single officer on board-that is because we are short of a volunteer. But ambulance work is not for everyone and the great thing about St John is there a place in it somewhere for anyone who wants to volunteer.
How do people volunteer?
Ring our support team on 0800 STJOHN or go to our website www.stjohn.org.nz. There you can find lots of information on the services we provide and details on how you can help or apply to join us.
