Gardener volunteers for fire and ambo
One moment Heather Coffey could be pulling out weeds and the next cutting someone out of a car.
Coffey, from Matamata, is a gardener by trade, but also a volunteer firefighter at Matamata Fire Station for eight years and has volunteered for Matamata St John for four.
The juxtaposition of her jobs, means she could be pottering away in a client’s garden one minute and the next be called out to a major crash on the Kaimai Ranges. When that happens she drops everything and goes.
‘‘For fire I’ve been called out during work a lot, but St John, not yet, because I usually roster myself on for set three hour shifts,’’ Coffey said.
‘‘All my clients know that I volunteer though and if they hear sirens or see me leave, they know I’m off trying to help someone out,’’ she said. ‘‘But I will always come back to finish their gardens later.’’
She said she either drives to the fire station to put on her uniform or gets picked up on the way.
‘‘It’s very rewarding working for the rural emergency services and I like the differences the three bring to my life. It balances life out and keeps my life interesting.’’
Coffey said volunteering for both emergency services has meant that whatever shift she is on she is able to help where she is needed.
‘‘Fire generally only go to code purple which is cardiac arrest or someone having breathing difficulties, so we are often assisting ambo anyway.
‘‘If ambo and police aren’t there, I always get assigned the position to do first aid, because fire know I do work for St John.
‘‘When the guys at St John used to be single crewed, and I turned up in the fire truck, they loved it because they knew that I could help them, even if it’s retrieving gear. Both skills go hand-in-hand.
‘‘I remember going to a nasty crash up the Kaimais several years ago. There were several police and several fire engines and it’s amazing in scenes like that how quickly and efficiently everyone works.
‘‘Accidents are the worst because there’s often a life lost, but in saying that you get to the scene and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.’’
Coffey has also had to stabilise patients after freak accidents, such as someone being hit by a tree branch or a workplace accident.
‘‘I always go in thinking it’s the worst, because if it’s not the worst then we’re doing better than I thought.
‘‘Whether I’m ambo or fire I just do what I can for that person managing their pain until we get to the hospital to get medical help.’’
While the number of people volunteering in Matamata is larger than other rural towns, Coffey said fire and St John are still on the lookout for more crew.
‘‘We not only service Matamata and Piako, but the rest of Waikato and the Bay of Plenty as well, so when you think about it that way we don’t have very many volunteers’’.
Matamata St John is also looking to establish a first responder crew.
First responders are volunteers who will man a second ambulance and go to scenes as backup if trained staff aren’t available.