A consortium of Chinese business women in New Zealand has once again shown their generosity to St John with the donation of a third operational vehicle for its emergency ambulance service.
A new Rapid Response Unit donated by the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women of New Zealand (GFCBWNZ), was dedicated during a ceremony in Auckland on Thursday 8 August.
The vehicle will operate out of the St John Mt Wellington station and will primarily be ultilised by shift supervisors during major incidents such as cardiac arrest and car crashes.
Each year St John receives more than 533,000 111 emergency calls for an ambulance and ambulance officers treat or transport more than 480,000 patients. Rapid Response Units are designed to reach patients promtly and are able to travel through traffic faster than an ambulance.
The GFCBWNZ first donated a Specialist Emergency Response Team (SERT) vehicle in 2015. St John SERT personnel utilise the vehicle when responding to incidents in adverse environments such as Police tactical situations, hazardous material locations, and search and rescue missions.
In 2017, the GFCBWNZ reached out again, to donate a Rapid Response Unit and has today donated a second.
GFCBWNZ Chairwoman, Jessica Wang says their patronage stems from the organisation recognising the importance of St John’s emergency ambulance service and also members of their community who have received help from St John in the past. "Because St John does so much good in our community, we decided to maintain a relationship with them, to help support their emergency ambulance service,” Ms Wang says.
"We are extremely grateful for the continued support we receive from the GFCBWNZ and other members of New Zealand’s Chinese community. As a charity, St John depends on donations from the public to run our emergency ambulance service and to deliver essential community programmes throughout the country. This ensures we can be there for New Zealanders when they need our help,” says St John General Manager – Northern and Central Region, Andrew Boyd.
St John values the ongoing philanthropy of the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women of New Zealand and other members of the Chinese community. Their generous support ensures St John is able to continue replacing its older fleet with new, up-to-date equipment and operational vehicles essential to responding to the public in an emergency.