Waiting for people to arrive, the team of 12 is as comfy with each other as they are with their location. Unsurprising really, as they are all colleagues, working in a variety of roles for Ngaruahine Iwi Health Services.
Some of the team normally work in the kaumātua health field, others work with rangatahi. Some are health workers, some are social workers, but all share a passion for looking after their community.
"Right now, this is where our community needs us, so this is where we are."
Warren says mobilising the team to run a series of pop-up Covid-19 test sites around central and south Taranaki is a way to ensure the community remained safe.
"The only way to know we don't have Covid-19 in our area is to test for it. It made sense to bring the tests to the people to ensure everyone who needed to, had access."
After the clinics the team are running this week, in Stratford, Eltham, Inglewood, Opunake and a range of other locations, Warren says they will assess if more are needed.
"At the moment it feels it might relax a bit for testing, we have reached the people who we needed to reach so we will wait and see what is required of us next. That might be in the form of a mobile test clinic that come out and test a bubble or whanau group who can't get to a test site, or it might be that we are needed in another way to help our community. The situation is evolving each day and we work with it, when we see a need, we step in and meet it."
The team haven't dropped their usual workload either however, and all are making sure they remain connected with their clients and patients, checking in with them and organising help where needed.
When the country first went into lockdown, the team quickly came together for a meeting to plan their response, organising and delivering car loads of kai packages within 24 hours.
The kai packages were made up of a large amount of donated food from Tika Catering in Hāwera, which supplies school lunches in the area. That donation, plus groceries funded through another source, meant the team were able to deliver 150 kai parcels to families and individuals in need.
As people begin to arrive at the drive through test site the team shift gears and move into what seems to be a perfectly choreographed dance. As some greet people and direct their cars through the line, others go and talk to the car occupants, getting the necessary details while also putting people at their ease. They then come over to the administration part of the set up where patient details are double checked and allocated a swab and all the relevant documentation. Any pertinent or important details are highlighted as Warren and an assistant then head over to the patient. Warren, a registered nurse, is the one taking the swabs, but first he makes sure the patient is comfortable and feeling at ease. He doesn't rush them, preferring instead to make sure each person's experience is as relaxed and stress free as possible. Once the swab is taken, it is placed in a sterile bag, labels checked and put in the box ready to be taken to the lab at Hāwera hospital once the clinic has finished.
It seems as though Warren never stops moving, as he goes from one patient to the next, changing gloves, applying hand sanitiser, adjusting his face shield, checking forms and never stopping with the friendly banter.
At times the dance is interrupted, when one of the team alerts the others to a patient possibly in higher need. The patient is assessed, information relayed to Warren, who quickly moves into action, calling the patient's GP clinic and arranging for them to be seen as soon as possible. A team member stays talking to the patient, explaining the process and making sure they are ok with driving to their GP where they will be given a full respiratory assessment.
As the patient drives off, Warren directs one of his team to leave too.
"I want that patient's swab prioritised so take it straight to Hāwera now please."
He wants a rush on that test result, he says, based on the team's assessment of the patient.
"The sooner we know if there is a risk of transmission in Taranaki, the better we are able to respond."
As soon as he has given the instruction, he is on the move again. Pausing only to change PPE and adjust his face shield, Warren is straight back out to the next car, ready with that trademark banter and his test kit to greet the next patient.
