Otago Daily Times Wanaka reporter Margot Taylor asked him about his New Year's Eve experiences.
Q How long have you been a paramedic?
A A long time. I qualified in 1981 and worked in Dunedin until 1990, left for a while and returned in 1995, and moved to Wanaka in 2002.
Q How many New Year's Eve shifts have you worked?
A About 12 in Wanaka, and probably about eight when in Dunedin.
Q Have you seen changes in the way people celebrate the occasion? If so, what?
A Not really. People are probably a bit better behaved than in the '70s and '80s, when Wanaka was quite unruly on New Year's Eve.
Q What comes to mind when you think of working as a paramedic on New Year's Eve?
A It will be a busy night, with lots of drunk people.
Q What are the challenges of working the New Year shift?
A Dealing with people who can be difficult. Either through alcohol, or not wanting to receive the treatment that is in their best interests.
By that I mean that they often don't want to go to hospital or medical centre and miss out on the fun that their mates are having.
Q Are there any highlights?
A New Year hugs and kisses. (Though not drunk ones.)Q What advice would you give to people planning on bringing in the new year in Wanaka?A Have a good night, but don't do anything stupid.
You would not believe half of the idiotic things people get up to, and then it all turns to grief. Look after the people you are with.
Q How can people help St John on the night?
A Just let us get on with our job. We really don't need all that good advice people tend to offer when they may have a couple too many.
Q What are the most common things you treat people for?
A You name it, we can expect to see it sometime. There tends to be more alcohol-related incidents than anything, though. Probably the most common incidents are falls and assaults.
Q Are you seeing an increase in the number of people under the influence of drugs other than alcohol?
A Hard to say, as most people will not admit to using drugs. Sometimes it's really obvious, even though they deny it. My experience is that we don't see a lot of drug use in Wanaka.
