Funds for Mercy Hospice

28th September, 2016

This time around our event was a little bit different as we raised funds for Auckland’s Mercy Hospice. The lunch was a way for Online Republic staff to give back to Mercy Hospice for all they had done to help an amazing colleague Sam, who sadly passed away after battling a vicious cancer.

In honour of Sam we held a 'European' themed lunch, where staff brought in sweet and savoury dishes inspired by European favourites. Everyone donated money beforehand and then choose from the fabulous selection of food. It's a wonderful way to get staff involved and enjoy a delicious lunch together. A few star dishes included a chocolate Bundt cake, sauerkraut, savoury burek, pumpkin and haloumi salad and fruit kebabs.

There were prizes on the day for the best dishes and Sarah's pumpkin and haloumi salad was one of the top four dishes. We raised $600 and then the company matched it so we donated $1200 in total to Mercy Hospice. A wonderful response and turnout for the event!

Starlight Fundraiser Lunch

Staff members of Online Republic’s Auckland office’s organised another lunch to raise funds for much needed supplies for our hard-working St Johns ambulance ‘Number 93’. The staff members brought in an array of dishes lovingly made including the likes of - paneer kebabs, roasted veggie salad, French crepes, ham & cheese croissants, matcha & white chocolate cookies as well as piping hot lasagna. There were also the smoothie girls from our Queens Arcade office who kindly brought in their blenders to make fresh berry smoothies, and chocolate milkshakes to help raise funds.

Staff lined up and generously donated to receive a plate of these gastronomic delights.

It was wonderful to welcome three of the St Johns staff along to this event. Meeting one of the drivers and hearing some of her stories about patients who she has helped was a real eye-opener to how hard and long these ambulance drivers work around the clock. I know many of us left the event with a lot of extra respect for these St Johns staff what they do our community.

All up, we raised $835.00 from the lunch. After company and shareholder contributions we were up to $8525.00. This is an incredible amount to donate to St John enabling them to purchase some much-needed equipment. This is an amazing effort all round from everyone who cooked, baked, ate and donated as well as a massive thank you to the St Johns staff who were able to make it along on the day and chat with us.  

There is something extra special about these fundraiser events. It’s always such a delight to see how involved staff members get and the generosity that flows. We look forward to hosting another Starlight Fundraiser later in the year. 

By Charlotte Lightbody, March 2016.

St John's report on Ambulance Vehicle Number 93 noted that from 1 July to 1 March 2016 this vehicle responded to 2,263 incidents transporting 1,457 of these to a treatment centre. The ambulance staff attended to 467 acute admission incidents, 265 breathing problems, 207 chest pain incidents, 105 traffic accidents, 51 cardiac arrests, 11 choking incidents, 207 chest pain, 121 falls and many more incidents assisting those in need.

We are proud to stand by St John and help our communities.

 

Staff Link to Ambulance No. 93

We were excited to be sent these pictures of Mat Delaney who was rostered on to work in the Starlight Fund “PB” ambulance recently. Mat is the partner of one of Online Republic’s staff members. 

Mat explained that it is great to work in the new ambulance that has all the latest gear. Typically St Johns is dealing with a lot of winter illness this time of the year with respiratory illnesses increasing over the cold months. In one 12 hour shift Mat and his team helped a 3 month old child with a chest infection, assisted in the birth of a newborn baby in the back of the ambulance, attended a (thankfully) minor car accident, helped an elderly person with respiratory infections and came to the rescue of a woman with a brain condition, amongst other call-outs.

 

Mat is a full-time paramedic with St Johns and we are glad to be helping amazing people like him, help out our family, friends and community.

Mat said that there aren’t many ambulances in the central Auckland area that are sponsored outright by an organisation. It does happen a bit more frequently in the rural areas where someone may leave a legacy to build an ambulance. Online Republic would like to put it out there – if anyone in business in Auckland is reading this, to band together with others and sponsor the build of a St Johns ambulance – they need to keep building new ambulances every year to keep up with the wear-and-tear of the vehicles.

Ambulance No. 93 Gets A New Skin

St Johns have been systemically recovering their ambulances to ensure they are more visible. 

We are proud to be supporting the organization, whom for the second year has been voted the Most Trusted Charity in the highly competitive and respected Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands Awards 2015.

 

A taste of the world raises much-needed funds

Staff members of Online Republic’s Auckland office put on a multi-national lunch to raise funds for much needed supplies for what we affectionately call “our” ambulance. With staff from around the world including Tahiti, Australia, Poland, and Vietnam generous individuals brought in dishes they had created including Kerala beef fry with rice, chicken skewers, mini quiches, a good old kiwi bacon and egg pie, a range of different salads and sweet treats. Staff then paid for various selections and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch.

Funds raised, including further donations from staff that couldn’t be at the event, totalled $3,400. Then with matching funds by Online Republic, $6,400 was donated to St John enabling them to purchase some much needed equipment  - a BCI Capnocheck and two Entonox Giving Sets.

So what is a BCI Capnocheck11?
Here’s a description by St Johns: Capnographs are battery operated portable handheld devices used for measuring capnography. Still confused? Well this measures etCO2 (entidal carbon dioxide) which is the amount of carbon dioxide expired after every breath/ventilation. An Intensive Care Paramedic is unable to intubate a patient (put in a breathing tube) without the assistance of one of these measuring devices as it is used to confirm tube placement and ventilation rate. If we hyper or hypo ventilate a patient, this can be very detrimental to a patient’s wellbeing. The Capnographs have a monitoring capability suitable for all patients ranging from paediatrics to adults.

A MRX lifepac has one of these devices built in to it but at a cost of $39,000 per unit. St Johns can’t afford to have one of these in every vehicle. Therefore, there is a critical need for these portable devices.

The Capnographs are primarily used in cardiac arrest emergencies. In the past 12 months, St John Northern Region has attended a total of 5,918 cardiac emergencies whereby 4,861 in the Auckland district, 771 in the Northland district and 286 in the Hauraki/Coromandel district. We are in desperate need of a unit.

OK then what is an Entonox Giving Set?
Entonox is a very common pain relief gas used in the pre hospital setting. It is a mixture of Oxygen and Nitrous oxide in a high-pressure cylinder. The nitrous oxide causes analgesia (pain relief) via effects on the central nervous system and is very quick acting. This unit consists of a regulator and delivery tube and mask for administration. This transfers the gas from the high-pressure cylinder to a usable flow that the patient can then breathe in. The gas is suitable for all ages from children to the elderly and can be used during childbirth.

St John's Easter Fundraiser 2014

Staff at Online Republic celebrated Easter this year with an Easter themed morning tea, a fun Easter egg hunt and an enlightening talk from St John’s staff about what the Starlight Fund sponsored Ambulance No. 93 does in a typical day. 

It was amazing to find out that since it’s launch just over a year ago the ambulance had attended more than 4,800 incidents. So while the ambulance build has been sponsored and paid for there are many ongoing maintenance and medical consumables costs.

It was interesting and humbling to find out what some of the incidents involved and what the St John staff can face in a very long, typical day.

Funds raised by staff who give regularly from their salary, plus donations on the day, then matching by Online Republic meant that $3201 was donated directly to St John. For this we were able to donate: a new Combi carrier (stretcher) at $1,695, a compact carry chair at $1,290 plus three IV Starter Kits at $72 each.

Staff at Online Republic are committed to continuing support for St John. We are now even more aware of what they do for our community and we realise we never know when it may be us or a family member or friend who may need their services.

We aim to continue fundraising with Online Republic matching funds raised by staff on a six monthly basis.

Donation to Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.

The Starlight Fund was set up to honour Paul Ballantyne who passed from this world in January 2011. While living in Melbourne, Australia, Paul had experienced severe headaches and was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma which had metastasized in his brain.

Paul had a high-risk brain tumor operation within days of his diagnosis. The surgeon did a fantastic job, but sadly the tumor returned a few months later and a second brain operation was required. By this time however the cancer was throughout his body and Paul lost his fight with cancer around 6 months after his diagnosis.

Paul was extremely grateful for the quality of the care he received from Alfred staff and had nothing but praise for the nurses, doctors and surgeons.

To thank the Alfred Hospital for their care of Paul, early in 2014, Paul’s brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Jen Ballantyne donated funds towards the purchase of much needed neurological microsurgery surgical instruments.

We hope that in providing these instruments, the "rock star" surgeons, as Paul referred to them, will be able to help improve and save the lives of others.