Former St John Picton station manager and paramedic Tony Cronin has started a new chapter in his St John journey this month as the new Rural Support Officer in Murchison.
Cronin has been appointed to the position to support the ambulance officers to Murchison as part of its four-year project to end single crewed ambulances in New Zealand. The announcement came after a review of ambulance service delivery in the township which identified improvements that could be made to the current model.
St John sought feedback from St John staff, the Murchison community and stakeholders, and as a result the emergency ambulance in Murchison will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm.
Overnight, the ambulance will be crewed by volunteers who will provide first response to incidents supported by PRIME practitioners when available, and the nearest co-responding ambulance.
Two new ambulance officers will join the team in Murchison to enable the ambulance to be double crewed.
Cronin, who will be based in Murchison and has been with St John for 21 years, will work alongside volunteers and paid ambulance officers to provide additional resilience as we transition into the new service delivery model in Murchison.
“Community involvement in selecting the right person for the RSO role was incredibly important for us and we worked closely with the Murchison Community Council in the interview and selection process to ensure we had the right person for the role,” says Joelle Fox, St John Buller Territory Manager.