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. 

Additional Funds Raised For St John

By Sept 2013 the St John Starlight Fund Ambulance No. 93 had already responded to over 2,788 incidents.

So in early October 2013 staff at Online Republic had a “Bake Off” to report on the ambulance's activity, raise awareness of the project for new and current staff as well as raise funds for ambulance supplies. The Bake Off was a huge hit. Staff were able to sample baking entries for a donation then vote for the best baking. The winner was rewarded with a cool baking recipe book and a miniature ambulance.

Staff gave generously and donations were matched by Online Republic making a total of $7,000 to donate to St John. The money was used to fund two fully equipped intensive care kits to help save lives.

St John Intensive Care Paramedics are equipped with a Response Kit they use for every call out no matter what the emergency is. They do not leave the vehicle without it and without these packs they can not do their jobs. Everything inside is a consumable and needs to be replaced regularly and at times daily. It's good to know St John is there if needed.

Wednesday 6th March 2013, 12.30pm

Members of St John, Auckland Communities Foundation and Online Republic staff came together for a ceremony to officially dedicate a new ambulance vehicle sponsored by the Starlight Fund, in Takutai Square at Britomart, Auckland CBD.

Mike Ballantyne addressed the group and thanked all for their generosity to help make this happen while Gary Salmon, General Manager of St John Northern Region and Richard Blundell, Chairman of St John Northern Region Trust Board  also addressed the group with moving speeches including how it could be expected that over the life of this ambulance around 200,000 people will be helped.

The Reverend Mark Sullivan, St John Regional Chaplain dedicated and blessed the ambulance and commended the members who serve St John. Followed by The Lord's Prayer, the ceremony was on a whole very moving.






A plaque of dedication has been included inside the ambulance (as well as sign-writing on the outside).


Other articles about this launch
http://www.aucklandcf.org.nz/15/for-community/news