ORGANISED SOCIAL SERVICE

Evening Star, Issue 17483, 14 October 1920, Page 4

ORGANISED SOCIAL SERVICE

“ FOR. THE SERVICE OF MANKIND.” One has to travel far back into the misty days of chivalry and romance to find the beginnings of the “ Order of the Hospual ol St. John in Jerusalem,” of which the present-day “St. John Amhuim C i 0 it ssoc ' at i° n ”is an integral part. In J.UI4, by permission of the Moslem Caliph, a , number of enterprising Christian mercnants built a hospital in Jerusalem, wmch became the precursor of “The Kmgnts Hospitallers of St. John.” The Order came into prominence during the Crusades, and continued to play a more or less important part in Europe and the British Isles until well on in the sixteenth century. Like the fabled Phoenix,” it rose to new life again early last centurv, and its ambulance work throughout the' British Empire in our own dav has been a blessing to both the Mother Country and her colonies. During the Great War the association merged its activities with those of the Rod Cross Society, under one administration. The war having been happily won Through God we have, gamed the victory”—the normal conditions of control are now resumed. With this brief foreword, we hasten on to tell something of the local activities carried out by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at the Dunedin centre, as it forms one of the humanitarian enterprises on behalf of which organised social service is appealing. ST. JOHN AMBULANCE ASSOCLVTION. Ambulance transport, district nursing, first aid training—these are the three departments into which the work is divided, in all of which splendid and beneficent service is being rendered to the community.

Iwo motor ambulances are maintained mr the purpose of carrying the sick and injured to the Hospital. The extent to which these are availed of is shown by the fac.t that during last year 1,000 cases were transported, the suffering ones being conveyed promptly, quietly, and without any painful jolting. The demand for such md is becoming so great that a third ambulance car will'require to bo provided as soon as funds permit. District nursing in the homes of the poor and those in straitened circumstances y* carried out in a most energetic and successful manner by a staff of three experienced nurses, with the assistance of voluntary helpers from the district nursing division. Last year’s record of work shows that more than 5,000 visits were made, with an average of 45 patients on the roll. Educational classes for instruction in first aid to the injured and in home nursing are conducted by the association. Five hundred students attended last year, of vni? c k , a ? um^er passed the examinations, u hen it is rente inhered "that since the formation of the local centre over 11,000 persons have been,trained in first aid, and nearly 5,000 in home nursing, it will readily be seen what a tremendous boon this must represent to the community. The excellent service rendered by the St. John Ambulance Association is so generally known and so readily admitted that anv special pleading on its behalf is superfluous. _ May_ it prosper and continue to maintain inviolate the chivalrous motto of the old Order of St. John of Jerusalem ‘For the service of mankind”!—Published by arrangement. ‘