‘Small service with a mighty impact’: Wellington FA
The Dominion Post is this year supporting The Good Registry, a Wellington-based organisation that connects people with good causes through charity gift vouchers – providing a great alternative to unwanted presents and undesirable landfill waste.
It’s the service you hope you’ll never need. Even they hope you’ll never need it.
But for one in 10 families across the wider region, the Wellington Free Ambulance service has been a vital support for 95 years.
While there’s no cost for those using the service, running a fleet of 56 ambulances across the wider Wellington region 24/7 is not cheap.
Now you too can give the gift of helping save a life through The Good Registry, a Wellington-based non-profit which helps to raise funds for local charities, including New Zealand’s only free ambulance service.
The charity has ‘‘grown significantly’’ since it was founded by then-Wellington mayor Sir Charles Norwood, Wellington Free Ambulance general manager fundraising and communications Claire Carruthers said.
Norwood established the service to create a ‘‘equitable health care system’’ after coming across an injured man on Lambton Quay.
He asked if any ambulance had been called but was told none could be found. He decided then and there that ‘‘no emergency should cost life or money’’ and vowed to set up his own service for the city.
The vision is the same today, despite the service growing from two ambulances to a fleet of 56 serving Wairarapa, Kāpiti and
Running a fleet of 56 ambulances across the wider Wellington region 24/7 is not cheap.
Wellington with nine stations, a rescue and patient transfer service and clinical communications centre. This year has been their biggest year on record. ‘‘With increased demand means increased resources,’’ Carruthers said.
Government and ACC funding accounts for about 80% of the costs, but $7 million in community funding is required each year to meet demand.
This includes purchasing eight ambulances each year to ‘‘replenish the fleet’’ which wears out from 24/7-use.
Their 400-strong staff serve a population of close to half a million people, responding to more than 50,000 people each year. ‘‘We’re a small service with a mighty impact,’’ Carruthers said.
Paramedics never knew what they were going to be tasked to do – from delivering babies, responding to cardiac arrests, or transporting patients after an elderly person had a fall or a child has broken their arm.
For the price of about five cups of coffee ($25) you can support them by buying a thermometer – something used by every patient they see. Or for less than what an especially nice dinner for two might cost ($75), you can buy a TransWarmer – a heated baby transport mattress.
To find out more about The Good Registry and its charity partners, go to thegoodregistry.com. Or to donate directly to Wellington Free Ambulance, visit wfa.org.nz.