Please check your house number — it could save a life

Getting an ambulance where it needs to, may be delayed when house and property numbers are either badly faded, missing or not visible from the road. When an ambulance responds, time is often critical. If your property number is hard to read (especially at dusk or in the dark), finding your location may be more difficult than it should be, especially when all the numbers on one side of a street are faded. I’m all for a good game of bingo but trying to guess which house is which, especially when we may not know the residents, or it is tourist accommodation, can be a little tedious for us, and I’m sure terrifying for the patient’s family.

Make sure your house number is:

- clearly displayed on road-side frontage, visible from the road and not hidden behind an overgrown bush, down a driveway or on an easement that is hard to see.

- easy to read at night, either with reflective numbers or with lighting.

This simple step will help our volunteer ambulance service in reaching the patient (it could be you) in as timely a manner as possible. I’m sure you could imagine how frustrating it can be when house numbers either aren’t there or are faded and can’t be read.

New Members

We are always looking for new members to join our team. Although the work we do may not be obvious to most, knowing that you have made a positive difference in someone else’s life, is a rewarding experience. As a volunteer, training to an Advanced First Aid and Advanced Resuscitation skill set is provided to all members. While the strength of your ambulance volunteers may lie in the knowledge that comes through experience, maintaining best practices without theoretical training is an important competent to our work. We meet the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, where we practice skills and build our competencies.

Our next skill drill will be held 11 November, 18:30 at the shed on Grassy Road. If you’d like to become involved call James on 51802, or email, james.garden@stjohnnsw.com.au.

Through Louise Donald, an accredited trainer, St John provides First Aid training for the Norfolk Island community, St John NSW is an RTO, all training is nationally recognised and endorsed. Courses for next year are available online at the link below.

To book classes, visit https://www.stjohnnsw.com.au/training/

For more information

P: 51802 (James, for volunteering and Community support)

51181 (Louise, for first aid training and course information)

E: norfolk.island@stjohnnsw.com.au or james.garden@stjohnnsw.com.au