Venu Menon
Wellington, March 20,2024
Wellington Free Ambulance, which has performed yeoman service in the greater Wellington region for close to a century, has come in for recognition from as far afield as Ayodhya in India.
Its premises on 19 Davies Street in Pipitea, Wellington, bore witness to an exceptional ceremony on Tuesday as the ambulance service personnel received a donation made in the name of Lord Ram in the wake of the commemoration of the new temple in Ayodhya recently.
Claire Carruthers, general manager (fundraising and communications) acknowledged the contribution of around $6,000 to the ambulance service made on behalf of the Ayodhya Ram Temple Celebration Committee, Wellington.
The committee, left with surplus funds following an event held on 22 January 2024, decided to gift the cash to Wellington Free Ambulance which it has described as being “a very deserving organisation that provides an invaluable service to the Wellington community.”
The committee was set up in Wellington to mark the Ram Mandir opening in Ayodhya.
“This was the first time that various Hindu temples and Indian associations from the Wellington region (including Lower Hutt) came together to organise a major religious/ community event,” Ajendra Jokhan, committee chairman, and Wellington Indian Association (WIA) president Manisha Morar jointly wrote to Wellington Free Ambulance chief executive David Robinson.
“The event was a huge success with over 1,200 guests in attendance,” they noted in their 19 March 2024 letter.
“The Wellington Hindu Community is appreciative of the presence of Wellington Free Ambulance in our capital city. We are proud that this is the only city in the Southern Hemisphere that provides free service to its residents,” the letter noted, and thanked the ambulance service staff for their support “especially when families are facing stress due to the ill-health of their loved ones.”
It noted in particular that the “burden of cost for an ambulance is something they do not have to think about.”
The visiting Hindu committee members were shown around the premises, including the telecommunication section, the nerve-centre of the ambulance service, where they were briefed on ambulance operations by Deepak Nair, dispatcher, Patient Transfer Service (PTS).
The Wellington Free Ambulance is the only one of its kind operating in New Zealand, distinguished by the fact that it does not pass its overhead costs on to its users. The service is free. Dial 111 and the service will reach you wherever you are in Wellington.
The ambulance service has been criss-crossing the streets of Wairarapa and the greater Wellington region for over 95 years.
Its origin is dramatic.
Back in 1927, then Wellington Mayor Charles Norwood pulled off his coat in a humanitarian gesture on a wintry day to cover a man lying on the pavement as he waited for help to arrive.
The Wellington Free Ambulance was a happy result of that single incident.
Since then, the service has answered countless distress calls that are prioritised according to emergency. The nearest ambulance reaches a site under lights and sirens and with paramedics on board if the emergency is life-threatening. If not, a registered nurse offers advice over the phone.
There are nine ambulance stations located around the Wellington region, with headquarters at Thorndon. As per the Wellington Free Ambulance website, 235,000 calls for help were answered and 54,000 emergencies were responded to last year.
The government is the primary source of funding, with key institutional donors making up the rest. But donations from the wider community are not insignificant in keeping the ambulances running.
The Indian community is a stand-out donor, Wellington Free Ambulance staff duly acknowledge.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
