Busy life in civvy street

Press, 4 May 1984, Page 20

Busy life in civvy street

Coping with “civvy street” is no problem for two Army-trained medics who have started what they believe is New Zealand’s first paramedical company. Independent Medical Services, Ltd, came into being on February 2, the day after Mr Murray Tasker left the New Zealand Army Medical Corps. He teamed up with another former corpsman, Mr Adrian Selkirk, to form the Christchurch-based company which offers both emergency care training and emergency care — until now the province of the St John Ambulance Brigade and Red Cross Society. Practical and professional down to the “star of life” company badge on the blue overalls and the motto “Anyone, anywhere, anytime” — that includes anywhere in the South Island, but so far most of the demand has been in Christchurch. “There is a need in the community for basic first aid,” Mr Tasker said. “At the moment there is a general apathy amongst the public themselves.” Training courses from two hours to five days are aimed mainly at sports and service clubs, specialist groups, industry, and Government departments. The two men say that one of the company’s advantages is the ability to adapt courses to suit. An example is the pilot first aid training course they are developing for Government electricity workers which looks particularly at electrical burns and heart failure. Some sports and racing clubs were also interested in hiring their services for events. The idea is not new. Paramedic companies charge “big money” in the United States and Britain, but Independent Medical Services has set its prices at the same rate as the two voluntary organisations. It was competition in a way, said Mr Tasker but there was room for all three. Business has been good. The Canterbury Hospital Board has contracted the company to design and coordinate emergency nurse care training.

Six of the non-practising nurses who took part in those courses now work as part-time instructors for Independent Medical Services., An advisory doctor is the third company director and another Army medic, now in Singapore, will join them next year. Mr Tasker, aged 34, spent 16 years in the N.Z.A.M.C. His traininng included registered State nurse qualifications, and experience in search and rescue (aviation) and diving medicine. Mr Selkirk, aged 30, had nine years as an Army medic, but has been working for the last year as a

labourer until Mr Tasker joined him. “There is no other place in civvy street for a secondhand medic,” he said. It was that prospect that first started them thinking of the idea in 1981. Three years and one feasibility study later, the two men estimated they have about ?50,000 invested in the idea with two vehicles and equipment. Nor do they aim to stop there. Buying a helicopter and vehicles for emergency transportation are two of the long-term options. The secretary of the St John Ambulance subcentre

in Christchurch, Mr James Barker, said that he believed the new company offered a more specialised form of training than St John instructors. “The people involved in this thing are all fellows who have learnt the skills of instructors from the services and are cashing in on that, which is over to them,” he said. However, there was room for all organisations. “If anything, it probably does us a lot of good becuase we are going to have to make sure our standards are sufficiently high to keep people coming to our classes,” he said.