ST. JOHN AMBULANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21764, 2 April 1934, Page 8

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE

The annual contests of the St. John Ambulance Brigade were this year given a setting worthy of their importance. Through the aid of the St. John Ambulance Association, the teaching body, and of other institutions and many individuals who considered their holiday well spent in serving the great humanitarian service, a fete was held, and those who attended had entertainment and the satisfaction of knowing that their contributions helped to meet a real need. It is the custom of the brigade, and its glory, to work without fee or reward. Sporting organisations make voluntary donations for the most part toward the cost of the service, which never includes payment to members unless they are called to ambulance duty from their ordinary avocations. Thus, practically every man and woman of the brigade seen at sports gatherings and at all public assemblages is a volunteer to render first aid to the injured and sick. Any routine service of the kind is readily taken for granted by the public, and there is all the more reason, therefore, why, on the occasion of the contests, the people should be reminded of the lofty sense of citizenship which actuates the brigade. Its members naturally derive an interest and pleasure from the games they see while on duty, but it is the fact that they conform to a rigid standard of discipline which sends them out according to their orders of the day, be it wet or fine, whether they are "in the mood" or not; that gives their service its distinction. Quietly, consistently, devotedly they follow an ideal that goes to the root of Christianity, and all thoughtful citizens are. grateful. Through its work the brigade exerts a fine influence for citizenship. But its influence goes further. It has its cadet units in which boys and girls from the age of eleven begin to learn first aid, and already it is being recruited from these junior ranks. As important as the training of young people in nursing and first aid is the fact that they early receive the inspiration to serve their fellow men. In an age when there is so much concern about the disappearance of ancient landmarks, much comfort can be found in reflection upon the precious principles that live in the organisations that bear the name of St. John.