THE PRESS THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1985. A century of service

Press, 4 April 1985, Page 12

THE PRESS THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1985. A century of service

The celebrations in Christchurch this week-end to mark the hundredth anniversary of the formation of a St John Ambulance Association in New Zealand commemorate also a century of service to the community. In its various guises, the Order of St John in New Zealand has earned the gratitude of tens of thousands of accident victims for first aid and ambulance transport. The work of the priory of the Order of St John has wider application than just the ambulance at the road accident or the “zambuck” on the side-line; but to most New Zealanders these familiar and comforting faces of St John are the ones that spring most readily to mind. So familiar have they become, of course, that all too often they are taken for granted. To many people, even the distinction between the St John Ambulance Association and the St John Ambulance Brigade is blurred. The association and the brigade are two separate foundations under the Order of St John. They are complementary and act together, and an overlapping of activities is inescapable. In general terms, however, the association instructs others in first aid and runs the ambulance services the brigade is the team of volunteers in their familiar black and white uniforms who apply first aid. The association in New Zealand was formed after a meeting at St Mary’s Church, Merivale, on April 30, 1885, and predates the first New Zealand brigade division by seven years. Today about 70 per cent of the ambulance services in New Zealand are provided by the almost 300 ambulance vehicles of the association. In cities and larger urban areas, these ambulances are driven by salaried staff, but most of the association’s ambulances are still driven by volunteers. The association’s ambulances travel almost two million kilometres a year and carry more than 100,000 passengers. Much of this work is not for accident victims, but for patients being taken to hospital because of illnesses, or for moving patients between hospitals. A less visible, but no less important feature of the association’s work is the instruction that it provides to others in first aid. In conjunction with Government and local body organisations, and with industry, the association holds courses of instruction in first aid and accident prevention. The relief of suffering that this produces, and the savings to the country’s medical bill as a result of prompt first aid, cannot be measured. The association teaches, tests, and certificates several thousand firstaiders each year.

Some of these continue their association with the order, often joining the brigade and taking further training. Until five years ago, a district nursing programme run by the association attracted the services of others. The association’s district nursing programme was the last of several services started or administered by the order that have either grown into separate organisations or have been overtaken by changing needs. The first blood transfusion service in New Zealand, for instance, was the responsibility of St John. For 25 years the order was associated with the administration of the blood transfusion network and with the recording and calling of donors. The National Blood Transfusion Council, set up under the aegis of the order, handed over the transfusion service to the Health Department and local hospital boards in 1956. The voluntary aid detachments that worked in hospitals, especially during and immediately after World War 11, and the linen guilds that provide bed linen and clothing for invalids and the needy, have had their ups and downs, usually reflecting the urgency or need for their services. Like most branches of the order, the numbers of volunteers in the specialised sections and the role they play are determined more by the size and nature of the burden for a willing horse, than by any rigid adherence to organisational niceties. The order embarks on its second century in New Zealand with some of its objects clearly defined. The sick and injured will continue to require the sort of assistance that' the order is uniquely fitted to provide. Industrial first aid divisions, with the support of the Accident Compensation Commission, will continue to provide substantial benefits not only to the workers in industries, but to the prosperity and productivity of the industries and the country. The recent mushrooming in the number and range of community services dealing with health and welfare have made inroads into some of the order’s traditional work.

To meet the challenge of the next century, the order will have to come to terms with an increasing specialisation of interest and ability. The development of the professional ambulance service, and such things as the growth of sports medicine as a separate discipline, particular even to individual sports, will mould changes in the way that St John serves the community. For this week-end, however, such weighty considerations can be put aside; the occasion of the centenary celebrations is appropriate to reflect on a hundred years of a job well done.