Drakesbrook Despatch April 2011 Newsletter
Article Date: 4th April, 2011 | 602 Views | 0 Comment(s)
In January 2011 St John Ambulance Waroona did 8 callouts. I'd personally like to thank the few ambulance officers that have done jobs and made themselves available for public duties in the last two months. We don't get a lot of thanks for what we do but we do provide a vital service to the community and we should all be proud of the service we deliver.
Alcoa P.E.A.C.H.
The volunteers at the sub centre would like to say an extremely big thank you to Alcoa P.EA.C.H. who kindly donated the funds to buy four new adult CPR manikins, 2 junior CPR manikins and a complete computer system for our hard working Secretary, Carol. Without organisations such as P.E.A.C.H. we would not be able to provide the training tools for the Senior First Aid Courses or vital equipment for our ambulances. So once again a very big THANK YOU from Carol, the trainers and the future attendees of the Senior First Aid classes.
New Volunteers
I'd like to say welcome to Jacinta Birch, Josie Davis, Andrew Kneale and Billy Harbour who have been attending our local training sessions which are held on the first and fourth Thursday of each month. Hopefully the existing ambos haven't scared them off with their somewhat hilarious antics (not me though, I'm the quiet one) and we will continue to see more of them whilst they decide whether they want to make a commitment to become Volunteer Ambulance Officers with St John Ambulance Waroona. We still need more though, so if you have some spare time, it doesn't matter how much, come down and visit and we'll show you what we do.
Primary Ambulance Care (PAC)
I am happy to say that Lynda Le Roy and Karlie Bartle have completed the last weekend of the PAC course. Once we have received confirmation from Head Office that they have completed and passed all their assessments, Lynda and Karlie will be accredited PAC Ambulance Volunteers and have already become vital members within our small but enthusiastic team at Waroona. Congratulations Ladies!
General
Murray Henderson and Mark Tibbs attended the South West Regional Seminar at Bridgetown. Members from all over the South West congregated to hear from Head Office of new directions for the ambulance service in our regional area. I'm sure more information will be released as items are finalised.
Murray has also recently sat reaccreditation for his Industrial Medic and First Aid Trainer. Congratulations Murray! I'm sure you passed with flying colours.
Senior First Aid Course
The next Senior First Aid course is being held on the 11th and 12th June 2011 from 8:30am to 4:30pm at a cost of $160.00. Call Carol on 9733 2122 to book your place as these courses tend to fill quickly.
The April course is now fully booked.
Reminders
St John Ambulance Benefit Fund Membership is $70 for family cover which includes children up to 18 years of age. Single membership is $40.00. You must reside within the Shire of Waroona to become a member of the Waroona Sub Centre's benefit fund.
Please remember that if you have a newborn, you must update your membership details so that bub is covered.
Easter
As we come up to Easter, please be extremely careful on the roads. Our hardworking volunteers have three major arterial roads to cover, so please make it easier for us and drive safely. Easter is normally one of our busiest times of the year and to be honest and with no disrespect, we really don't want to see any of you in our official capacity as ambos. With that timely reminder, I have been asked by several people to reprint the piece that I did some time ago on giving way to emergency vehicles. As an ambulance officer who has driven on too many priority one callouts (life threatening, lights and sirens) I have seen some extremely dangerous and foolish drivers doing, to put it bluntly, really stupid things such as; pulling out in front of the ambulance when we are almost upon it, overtaking the ambulance whilst we are on a priority one, sitting behind the ambulance and going at the same speed as us, turning in front of a priority one ambulance, sitting in front of a priority one ambulance and not getting out of the way even when we are about five meters behind it and overtaking a priority one ambulance and sitting just in front at the same speed effectively blocking the ambulance. All I can say is just imagine if that was your loved one in the ambulance. Would you still be driving in such a ridiculous manner???? Don't be the one to take either yours or someone else's life.
Okay, sermon over, so here's the article that has been requested.
GIVE WAY TO EMERGENCY VEHICLES
Did you know that every 4 minutes an emergency vehicle uses lights and sirens on Western Australian roads to assist someone in a life threatening situation?
As a Volunteer Ambulance Officer, one of the most frustrating things I have come across is vehicles not giving way to the ambulance when we are using lights and sirens. As it says above, we only use lights and sirens when we are going out to a patient that may be in a LIFE THREATENING situation or we may already have the patient onboard in a critical condition. Regardless of where you are driving, please keep checking your mirrors, keep your music turned down to a suitable level so that you can hear sirens and don't try to outrun us. It only causes more problems for us as we try to give our critical patient a smooth but quick trip to hospital.
How do you recognize an emergency vehicle? Any vehicle with flashing blue or red lights can be an emergency vehicle. The most common emergency vehicles you may come across are - Ambulance, Police or Fire Service.
What do I do when I encounter and emergency vehicle while I am driving? DON'T PANIC! DON'T SLAM ON THE BRAKES! Check where the emergency vehicle is coming from and give way to it if safe to do so. Move to the left if you can. If you cannot move left, slow down or stop and let the emergency vehicle drive around you.
Can I break the law to give way to emergency vehicles, for example, driving through a red light? No you cannot break the law to give way to an emergency vehicle.
Can I be penalized for not giving way to emergency vehicles? YES! It is an offence not to give way to an emergency vehicle.
"FAILURE TO GIVE WAY TO AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE"
The fine is $150 and four demerit points however the incident can be dealt with by infringement or by summons to court. Depending on the circumstances, the vehicle may be impounded.
Waroona Police have stated that they will support any reports received by your local Volunteer Ambulance Officers or Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade members and WILL prosecute if required.
In my capacity as a Volunteer Ambulance Officer my first priority is to my patient and my colleague then to other road users. I personally will have no hesitation in taking your car registration number and reporting it to the local Police if I think that you are putting my patient, my colleague and other road users at risk. Is dangerous driving worth the consequences?
Please remember "EVERY SECOND COUNTS"
Support your local heroes, become a volunteer!
"You may not have 40,000 fans chanting your name, or press photographers watching your every move. But there is someone out there who owes you their life."
St John Ambulance relies on locals to volunteer their own time to run this vital community service. To retain it they need people like you who care enough to get involved.
- Meet new people
- Learn valuable life saving skills
- Receive Training
A St John Ambulance Volunteer is an important person, someone who donates a few hours of their time to put something back into the community.
We are always looking for more people to help our small group of hard working ambulance volunteers. If you can spare some of your time to learn life saving skills and give something back to the community that you live in please feel free to contact our Secretary, Carol Racco on 9733 2122 on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 9:00am and 1:30pm or visit our website www.waroonaambulance.com.au
RETHINK YOUR HEROES. BECOME A VOLUNTEER.
Upcoming Training Nights 7:30pm (come along and experience what we do):
Thursday 7th April 2011
Thursday 28th April 2011
On behalf of the Committee and Ambulance Volunteers I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Easter!
Judy Chalmers
AAC Ambulance Volunteer
