The ACP International Conference provides an unmatched opportunity for our members to learn from experts and leaders in paramedicine. ACPIC 2021 was delivered as a hybrid conference (online and face to face in the Sunshine Coast, QLD and Hobart, TAS) in November 2021.

It is your choice what path you take as a volunteer, or a student. St John Ambulance gains over 75% of all paid personnel recruited annually from current volunteers within the organisation. The reasons for this are the robust, practical skillbase that volunteering provides, as well as the opportunity volunteering provides to hone skillsets learned in a tertiary environment. Additionally, St John has volunteers responsible for metropolitan, rural and remote ambulance cover, First Response unit service delivery, and Major Incident Support Teams nationally. In these roles, volunteers provide the immediate care from a variety of angles and clinical practice levels, from Paramedic to First Responder and MIST officer. The relationship between our paid and volunteer people is something that we depend on for timely care for our patients, and this session highlights some of the benefits volunteering provides to the patient, and to the personnel supporting volunteering, from helicopter Intensive Care Paramedics to receiving hospital clinicians.

Biography: James Stewart

James started off as an ambulance volunteer while completing a degree at the University of Canterbury. After completing two years as a volunteer, James moved across to work for Clinical Support, frontline fulltime, and into a variety of project management and line management roles. After completing three years as the manager for Rural Otago, James became the manager accountable for volunteering within St John Ambulance, responsible for ambulance, first response, and major incident support volunteering. James has also completed a paramedicine degree, and is working towards a Masters in Business Administration, as well as continuing to volunteer on ambulances and first responding predominately around North Canterbury.

Session moderator: Stuart Cook