Paramedics home from New Zealand

FORMER long-serving New Norfolk ambulance officer Peter James has today returned home to Launceston following a deployment to New Zealand where he provided assistance in the aftermath of the recent Christchurch earthquake. He was joined by Adrian Abel, another former branch station officer at New Norfolk.

Both are highly qualified intensive care paramedics deployed and this was thought to be the first time Tasmania's ambulance service had deployed paramedics to help in an overseas emergency. They were part of an Australian multi-jurisdictional taskforce that also included South Australia, the ACT and Victoria. The team worked alongside fire service colleagues and rescuers from other nations to search for victims of the earthquake, as well as making safe buildings in the city and houses in the suburbs.

Their duties also included providing health care support for the Australian rescue team. The paramedics were accommodated for the extent of their time away in a ‘tent city’ in Latimer Square in central Christchurch.