ST. JOHN AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13490, 17 May 1907, Page 7

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION.

DEMONSTRATIONS OF FIRSTAID. - " :

The annual meeting of the St. John Ambu- j lance Association was held in the Choral j Hall last evening. There was a largo at- i tendance. The Mayor of Auckland (Mr. i A. M. Myere) presided, and there were also ' present His Excellency Admiral Sir W. H. | Fawkes, attended by Flag-Lieutenant Wil- , loughby and Mr. G. A. Miller, secretary. , The; Admiral .was received by the Mayor, Dr. Purchas (vice-president), and Mr. W. ' Rattray (secretary). • " | The Mayor remarked that the association ] was deeply indebted to His Excellency the 1 Admiral . for having graciously consented to : be present at the gathering. He also took the opportunity to express an earnest hope : that the Admiral, his officers, and . crew ' would experience an enjoyable time in Auck; i land on their present- visit. Quoting largely from the committee's report, .he said ~he ' \va,s glad to learn ' from . the annual-report that the results of last season's work had been satisfactory. Lectures given -at the offices of. (the centre, also in the suburbs, and at Thames, Paerea, and Gisborne had been well attended/ and there had been a high percentage of passes iii the examinations.. The Waihi branch had resumed work, and a branch had been formed at Karangahako. Three Ashford litters jhad been received during the year, and they had been largely used, with beneficial results, but he was sorry to note that , the committee found it necessary to emphasise the fact that people who could afiord to pay for their use were expected to do so. As the littetvs could not be got, or kept, for nothing, it seemed only reasonable that those who -benefited -by them should contribute towards their., cost, if in a position to do so. Four more Ashford litters had been ordered. The: balance in hand for the building fund amounted to £75 3s 6d, as against £25 _15s 6d at the beginning of the year, but the" committee expected a very much larger increase during the ensuing year, to which end they proposed the institution of an Ambulance Saturday,- when ladies with collecting-boxes would station themselves at the various points of vantage ail the streets to receive the contributions of- the- passers by, 'a < plan which, when tried in Chris tchurch recently, realised the sum of £276. The St. John Ambulance Brigade? in connection' with this centre, , had also, trade . satisfacfactory ..progress during the year. . . The authorties at St. John's Gate had appointed a stiff of officers' to aid the assistant com: missioner in charge (Major Barclay) in the administration of the brigade in New Zealand, and Superintendent C. J.'Tanks, of the Auckland division, had been appointed district chief -superintendent. Mr. Tunk's had been selected as honorary serving brother of the Order of St. Johh- of Jerusalem, and the Mayor congratulated him on this wellmerited recognition of his valuable services to the association in Auckland during the past 15 years. , The association had done a noble work in both saying men and making- them capable of serving others. ~ I INTERESTING DISPLAY. Mr. C. J. Tunks gave ai most .interesting demonstration of how to render first aid in the i case of 1 a broken leg, a small boy being the subject, two members 'of the ■ Ambulance > Brigade fixing the assumed broken leg with a wal'kingstick. as a splint and handkerchiefs as bandages. . The work occupied, four minutes..... A bandaging competition took place between ladies of the Auckland nursing division'of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, ' the two teams' being the lady superintendent's team", and the first.officer's team.'. Boys were in .this case also : the subjects for treatment, • and the injuries attended: tot were -to the head, chest, foot, leg, and arm. Dr. Purchas, president of the hon. medical staff, acted as judge. The .bandaging was .closely scrutinised by Admiral Fawkes and the Mayor. Dr. ,Purchas, through the Mayor, said he was simply delighted with the work done by both teams. He had never seen .better work,' nor don© better-' work himself. He" found it most' difficult to' decide which wag the better team, and he*, therefore, dcolared the result to be a .tie.. The ladies taking part were: Lady superintendent's team —Misses "Webster (head), Jackson , (leg), Filleul (shoulder),. Thome (arm). First officer's team—Misses .Worth (head), Battersby (leg), Adams (shoulder), Homer ■ (arm). ' y DISTRIBUTION OF CERTIFICATES: .= His Excellency then distributed the certificates and medallions of the association, and, on the motion of Dr. Purohas, was accorded , a hearty vote of thanks. .. ' • The Admiral, in. acknowledging the compliment paid him, said it was a 'grep.t pleasure to him to present the certificates won by. the members of the association, and to see so many at the meeting, apparently , taking a' keen interest in the work of "the association. It was .an enormous advantage to such a community as Auckland to have a .large number of persons properly trained and ready, to give assistance- in case .of accident ; , and .it .was in giving such aid that, in . his < opinion, .the . old saying about helping one another to bear burdens was fully demonstrated. It was advisable that, as many people as possible should learn how to act when an accident happened. ' The Admiral concluded by saying that, even if his presence fit the gathering had not in any way contributed to an advancement' of the association's work, lie had been amply repaid for attending by the . kind way in ; which the vote' of thanks ,'aci corded him had - been carried. SOME PRACTICAL WORK. ; Mr., C. J. T.unks next gave a demonstration of the construction and the method of ; using the Ashford litter, two members of the audience receiving a lesson iu what to do in case of accident, and. how to transfer ' an injured person from the ground to the 1 litter with the least, possible shaking or movement of the body. The litter was wheeled across the stage, and carried downstairs with perfect ease. . The Onehunga nursing division gave a . demonstration of bandaging, those taking part being Misses Bower (capelline), Vernon (leg), and C. Cunningllam (shoulder spica). • ■ Dr. ; Purchas gave _an interesting explanation - of the < supposititious - wounds which had been bandaged, and warmly complimented the ladies upon ■ their work. . s The meeting was concluded by. an exhibition of ambulance work by members of the ' Auckland Volunteer Bearer Company illustrating work that would be required to be done in the ease, of men wounded in warfare or suffering from sickness while on active service. The members of the brigade were in uniform. They were par-, ticularly smart in their movements. They also gave a very creditable display of bandaging. * . A collection was taken during' the meeting amounting to £7 18s 9d. Votes of thanks were, accorded to the hon. medical staff, th© Mayor, and the secretary. ,