Ready for action
In the mid 90’s it was becoming apparent that the district needed some form of emergency care system and eventually in 1995 and under the St John Ambulance umbrella Glenorchy First Response was formed. It initially involved a team of eight who worked on a weekly roster basis. Over the years more people have trained and several have moved away or given it up for various reasons.
Since 2002 it has largely been Callan Grimmer and myself who have covered the call outs, with others coming and going along the way. At present Yvonne Gollop has almost completed her training and is now our third member.
We carry pagers and this is the easiest and quickest way to get hold of us. They are activated by phoning 111. This is preferable to people trying to track us down.
The call outs we have had over the years have been wide and varied treating both trauma and medical cases and attending people of all ages.
At Glenorchy Races
We appreciate the support we get from the local community with fundraising etc and because of this have managed to keep our equipment up to date. Our present vehicle was bought with locally raised money including a large donation from Lakeside Rugby Club. We have come a long way since we used a trolley donated by the Warehouse to push our gear from the medical rooms to our private cars!!!!
The fundraising - Glenorchy Quiz Night
We travel to Queenstown on a regular basis for further training with annual exams of a practical nature. We get a lot of satisfaction at been able to help until further help arrives, either by road ambulance or helicopter.
We look forward to your continued support.
Article and photos by Pam Henderson
