ODT

DunedinMay 23

St John a friend in deed

St John ambulance officers are often the first at the scene of a tragedy. Hamish McNeilly went out on a Friday night shift with the paramedics in Dunedin last week.

South OtagoApril 11

Lifeblood ebbs and flows

At the sound of a siren or pager alert, thousands of rural people drop everything to answer emergency calls, be it for a fire, car crash, medical emergency or lost tramper. Volunteers are the glue that keeps remote rural areas and larger regional urban centres together. Otago Daily Times reporters investigate the health of Otago's volunteer services.

South OtagoApril 11

Courses for free

In a bid to encourage people to volunteer for St John, free first aid courses are being offered potential volunteers in rural areas.

DunedinFebruary 2

St John ambulance hire fee rise felt in the South

A 38% fee increase for non-emergency St John ambulance private hire trips is hitting the South especially hard because of vast distances to main hospitals, Aged Care Association Otago Southland board member Malcolm Hendry says.

South OtagoDecember 6

St John to remain

St John has decided to retain a presence in the township, despite urgently needing more volunteers.

NewsNovember 1

Service to St John recognised

Lake Hawea man Ian Rae and Dunedin woman Shirley Hennessy have been awarded one of St John's highest honours.

North OtagoSeptember 1

Pair attain top St John Youth awards

The youth division of St John in Oamaru has two more recipients of the St John Youth's top award in its ranks.

Central OtagoAugust 25

St John cadets 'really competitive'

About 50 ''absolutely competitive'' St John cadets patched up, resuscitated and comforted patients at the Alexandra Holiday Park yesterday during the St John Youth area competition.

QueenstownAugust 12

St John Penguins relaunched

St John Penguins (from left) Connor Buckland (7), Scott Duncan (8), Hamish Early (8) and Ayla Balona (7), with (from left) leader Claudia Faichney, senior cadet Laura Laurenson and Central Otago divisional youth manager Tania Haugh, relaunched the Penguins movement in the Wakatipu by popular demand on Tuesday.

QueenstownJuly 31

St John volunteer honoured for her dedication

Helping people in times of crisis and thinking on her feet to solve problems have kept Jeanette Anderson volunteering for St John for an extraordinary 27 years.

QueenstownJuly 29

St John awards 'deserved'

Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden said awards presented to St John personnel at the annual Wakatipu awards ceremony on Friday night were ''well deserved''.

DunedinJuly 10

No lack of city St John volunteers

Dunedin's St John has more volunteers than it needs - a far cry from the situation facing St John's regional branches.

QueenstownJuly 8

Appeal raises thousands

ASB Queenstown customer services officers Clare Boanas (left) and Kaylyn McBrearty (right) teamed up with St John Wakatipu Health Shuttle driver Claudia Faichney to collect much-needed cash from Coronet Peak visitors for St John at the start of the emergency service's nationwide appeal week last month.

QueenstownJune 24

Boat race part of appeal week

St John staff and volunteers and their ASB supporters are hitting the streets and slopes of Queenstown as part of the service's national appeal week. Funds raised will go towards the St John Wakatipu health shuttle.

South OtagoMay 29

Balclutha: St John volunteers, staff recognised

The long service and hard work of dozens of St John volunteers and paid staff was recognised in Balclutha on Friday night.

South OtagoMay 20

Volunteers the lifeblood

When the call goes out for help after an accident or medical emergency, St John is first to respond. However, as St John's workload grows, the pool of volunteers needed to help crew ambulances across Otago is shrinking, Balclutha reporter Helena de Reus learned. A drop in the number of people volunteering for St John nationally has the organisation rushing to head the problem off before it becomes ''dire''. As a charitable organisation providing vital services, volunteers are the lifeblood of St John.

QueenstownMay 6

Wakatipu health shuttle could face axe

The St John Wakatipu health shuttle is at risk of being axed, just six months after it was launched, if more people do not use it to attend their medical appointments in Invercargill.

DunedinDecember 12

St John staff thanked for saving woman

Ann Allen knew she was in trouble when she started choking on a piece of meat.

NewsNovember 2

St John misses remote response target

More than half the patients needing an ambulance in remote Otago areas were left waiting longer than the St John Ambulance Service response time target of 25 minutes, figures from St John show.

QueenstownOctober 9

Back on familiar ground

Kelvin Perriman had to contend with a a skifield accident and a three-vehicle crash at Arrow Junction in his first few days in charge of St John Queenstown at the beginning of this month.

QueenstownSeptember 18

Call made for drivers

St John is calling for volunteer drivers to sustain the charitable organisation's new community health shuttle service for Queenstown Lakes residents.

EditorialSeptember 12

Answering the call

The news this week that St John is set to trial a new system whereby ambulances will not be sent to minor 111 calls as part of changes to help curb a $15 million-a-year loss is the latest manifestation of a crisis in the pressured health sector struggling to balance increasing demand with limited - and sometimes reducing - funding.

DunedinAugust 19

Powerboat death spurs counsel from coroner

The death of a powerboat marathon race competitor at Lake Waihola last year has prompted recommendations by Otago Southland coroner David Crerar to St John, Maritime New Zealand and the New Zealand Boat Marathon Commission.

QueenstownAugust 9

New health shuttle service

Residents who have appointments to keep with doctors, specialists and hospitals will be able to use the St John Community Health Shuttle when it is launched in Queenstown in early November.

QueenstownJune 29

Medical care on the mountains vital

A St John paramedic is liaising with Queenstown and Wanaka ski area operators for the first time to deliver the best medical care on the mountains, while the service prepares for the traditional spike in emergency callouts in July.