mmg.com.au

The Shepparton branch of Ambulance Victoria has been given a potentially life-saving funding boost thanks to the generosity of Shepparton Central Rotary.

The service club presented the local ambulance team with a cheque for $20000 at a lunch last week.

The funds were raised at this year’s annual Golf Day in May, and will go towards buying new technologies as well as upgrading existing equipment.

Ambulance Victoria Western Hume acting group manager Bert Orr said he was ‘‘overwhelmed’’ by the donation.

‘‘To receive a cheque for these meaningful upgrades for the Shepparton ambulance team is fantastic,’’ Mr Orr said.

‘‘The Department of Health and the government of the day do a great job in supplying us and sourcing us funding, but it’s not a limitless pot of money.

‘‘We rely to reasonable extent on service clubs and outside organisations, and the ambulance auxiliaries... to get the gear that we desperately want for our communities.’’

Mr Orr said the money would be used to add ventilators to the arsenal of life-saving equipment, a new technology for the Shepparton branch, which will assist patients who are having difficulty breathing.

It will also fund, among other technologies, an upgrade of their defibrillators.

Mr Orr said this improvement would enable paramedics to transmit a patient’s cardiac rhythm to the receiving hospital, in this case, Goulburn Valley Health, enabling doctors to make time-sensitive treatment decisions before the patient reaches the hospital.

Shepparton Central Rotary club golf day chairman Rob Kelly said the club wanted to reward the local ambulance team for their service to the community.

‘‘I just really couldn’t believe that... the Goulburn Valley (ambulance) group didn’t have access to such equipment... which seems crazy, we’re talking about an ambulance service,’’ Mr Kelly said. ‘‘We (wanted to) recognise that they’ve got limited resources and we thought $20000 would make a pretty big contribution to what they want to do.’’

Mr Kelly described the turnout of about 120 golfers as ‘‘fantastic’’ and said he was pleased to see them brave the chilly May weather for such a good cause.

‘‘It was a bitterly cold day, it wouldn’t have got to more than eight degrees I wouldn’t think, so we really appreciate the player and team support for actually hanging in there.’’

This story first appeared in the November 29 edition of SN Weekly.