New ambo manager ready for challenge

Overseeing 12 emergency service sub-centres and 400 staff across the vast Kimberley and Pilbara regions is no easy feat, but Broome resident Andrew Graffen says he is up to the challenge.

The newly appointed St John Ambulance North West regional manager started his role a month ago and has already got his finger on the pulse when it comes to managing a vital community service in the area.

Before working for the humanitarian organisation, Mr Graffen was the Shire of Broome’s manager of engineer operations — a community-focused role which naturally paved the way for him to transfer those skills to his latest job.

“I’ve got a passion for working with people and people management and saw it as a good opportunity, particularly working with the amazing group of volunteers and our well-trained and skilled paramedics,” he said.

Over the past four weeks, Mr Graffen said he had had an opportunity to look at some of the challenges of operating services in the North West such as distance and remoteness and had grown a real appreciation for the organisation’s volunteers.

“The time and passion they put into their community through volunteering is such a critical part of how we deliver a service to the area,” he said.

“I’ve also really appreciated more broadly how local business within the North West is also contributing to the delivery of this service through signing up and registering with schemes that we run like the Community First Responder and having the availability of defibrillators throughout communities, again all looking to aid our ability to respond and have the best chances of positive outcomes.”

Mr Graffen said his personal focus would be on attracting and retaining volunteers, communicating, and sharing knowledge across the board to ensure the continual delivery of an effective service.

He said St John Ambulance was always looking for more support from the community and encouraged anyone interested in signing up to get in touch.

“We can’t have too many volunteers and there are other opportunities to volunteer in different ways for the organisation,” he said.

“We’d certainly encourage anyone who has been thinking about it to contact us.”

For more information, call 9192 0700 or visit www.stjohnambulance.com.au .