St John Harvey sub-centre looks local for new volunteers due to ‘astronomically’ increasing workload

Volunteers are having to put in “astronomic” hours to keep Harvey’s St John Ambulance branch ticking over, according to its leader, who has put a desperate call out for more workers. Standing on the path along Uduc Road, St John Harvey sub-centre volunteers have been encouraging residents to be a part of their team, as about half of the sub-centre’s 39 members are Perth-based. Harvey sub-centre chair Paul Beech said the workloads were increasing “astronomically” and long-term members were “getting on” in age, with younger volunteers having work commitments and young families. “It is demanding putting in a 12-hour shift once a week, you have to put that time aside and be available if and when required,” he said. “We need two people minimum every 12 hours, so in the 24-hour period we need four people seven days a week.” Mr Beech said half of the current team are based in Perth — leaving volunteers to do multiple shifts a week rather than only one or two — and during transfers the entire town is left without an ambulance. “When we do go down to Bunbury that crew is gone for about two hours, so theoretically the town can be without an ambulance for two hours,” he said. “It’s a challenge to keep a 365 day, 24-hour a day operation going and we need a succession plan and without younger people we can’t (have one).” “You don’t have to jump in the deep end, you can come and talk to anybody, you can come and have a look around and we can show you first-hand how we operate,” he said. The newly opened Harvey sub centre attended more than 1300 call-outs last year and Mr Beech expects this will increase by another 100 this coming financial year.