How you can helpWe need more volunteers, but there are other ways you can help.
1Advertisewith us
Advertise on this website or in our quarterly newsletter "First Response"
We have several opportunities for you to advertise your products or services to 500+ volunteers and over 150 paid ambulance staff, and to show the wider community your support to these dedicated members of your local community.
2Make adonation
A donation to your local ambulance volunteers will be greatly appreciated.
If you would like to make a donation to support further education and training for your local volunteer ambulance officers, or to help buy that much needed piece of ancilliary equipment or something to make the station more comfortable, we can help ensure your donation is put to the best use.
3Sponsor avolunteer
Sponsor a volunteer to attend the next VAOAT Gathering
It costs roughly $500 for each volunteer who attends our annual Gathering where they get together with their peers for two days of education and training.
We don't charge them a cent because we think they give enough already. Why not help us by sponsoring a volunteer from your local community to attend this important event?
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
There are other simple ways you can help us to help you in times of emergency.
Learn CPR. The first few minutes of CPR are critical if someone is having a heart attack. It only takes a few hours to learn, and the life it saves may be someone you love.
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Make sure your house number is highly visible. One of the biggest frustrations for ambulance and other emergency service workers is missing or overgrown house numbers.
- Help us find your house quickly. If possible, turn on car hazard lights on the street outside your front door or at the end of your driveway. If it's dark, have someone wave a flashlight. If your driveway is long or your street is poorly marked, send someone down to the nearest intersection and ask them to turn on their hazard lights, and direct the ambulance from there.
- Call an ambulance only for medical emergencies. If your emergency is not life-threatening, please try and find another way to get medical assistance or arrange another means of transport to your nearest medical facility. While we are happy to help anyone with medical problems, your call for a non-emergency may mean we can't respond to a real emergency or have to call another crew in from much further away, placing people's lives at risk. Of course, if you have genuine concerns then err on the side of caution and call us.
- Teach your kids about "000". Triple-zero is the emergency number for fire, police and ambulance assistance throughout Australia. With the prevalence of reality tv and crime shows these days, make sure your kids know it not 9-1-1 (that's the United States), 1-1-2 (that's New Zealand) or 9-9-9 (that's the U.K.).
WHERE THE DOLLARS GO
THE VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF TASMANIA DOES AN AWFUL LOT WITH VERY LITTLE.
Here's a partial list of what we manage to accomplish in an average year with our limited resources:
Publish four issues of our high-quality newsletter called "First Response" with a wealth of practical information for volunteers.
Help individual stations with grant applications and assist with the acquittal of funds.
Guide the development of the TAS Volunteer Gateway, a sophisticated software program that helps manage emergency service volunteers.
Regularly meet with government to advance the interests of volunteer ambulance officers in Tasmania.