About Us

David can honestly say that being part of Wellington Free has shaped him and his family, as well as contributing to the community he lives and works in. In fact, it’s thanks to Wellington Free that he met his wife. David and Marie met at weekend handovers when they were both auxiliary officers – Marie was our first female paramedic. 

David and Marie (now retired but once an intensive care paramedic too)’s children remember many events when one, or even both, of their parents would run off to attend a call-out – whether it was mid-birthday party, family gathering or Christmas dinner! But to David, that’s just the nature of working in emergency healthcare:

“It isn’t something that you just do. It isn’t just a job. Being a paramedic and helping the community when they need you is who you are.” 

Joining the patient transfer service

More recently, David is using his skills and expertise in the patient transfer service in the Wairarapa, continuing to serve the community in which he lives. The nature of the rural patient transfer service is often different to the city service. 

“My work now is often a continuation of the care a patient receives from Wellington Free Ambulance. Initially they may be treated by emergency ambulance, then be transported home or back and forth to follow up appointments by myself and our patient transfer team.” 

David adds that:

“It’s important to remember that if you get taken to hospital by helicopter or road ambulance after a serious crash, heart attack or something really life-threatening – they don’t bring you back. If you need to be transferred closer to home to continue your treatment - that’s our job.”

Although the majority of patient transfer work is on a pre-booked system, arranged in advance by the regional hospitals, sometimes patients need immediate transport. These become a priority for PTOs.

For David and the team in the Wairarapa, that can mean urgently needing to transport patients from the Wairarapa to Wellington, over the steep and winding Remutaka Hill – a 208km round trip.

As David explains:

“When patients need treatment or tests that only the tertiary hospitals in Wellington, Hutt and Palmerston North can provide, we take them, at a moment’s notice. If their condition is serious, we can travel under lights.”

After many decades of dedication to supporting people in the community, David still gets satisfaction from helping people and seeing first-hand the impact his work has: 

“When you see people you’ve supported around the community doing well, you know you’ve helped be a part of that. It’s a great feeling.”  

Currently, our patient transfer service urgently needs a state-of-the-art dual stretcher ambulance to increase our ability to safely transport patients to and from essential healthcare appointments across our region. Please support PTOs like David by donating today: www.supportwfa.org.nz