St. John Ambulance nixer in IFSC

1cupoftea

Hi all, while passing through CHQ area of the IFSC I observed two guys in Full St. John Ambulance uniform assisting in the set up of bar / marquee thats hosting a Irish craft beer festival this weekend in Georges dock. As I stood and observed I noted ther duties included

• Controlling access to contractors
• Unloading pallets from delivery trucks
• Operating battery powered pallet trucks (badly)
• Transporting pallets of beer kegs from trucks, down a ramp onto pontoon deck and into bar / marquee area
  • Playing chasing on powered pallet trucks
  I walked over as they were unloading from a truck to check out what uniform they were wearing.
  
  The first guy was in his fourties, wearing a green and yellow hi vis coat (same as NAS issue) with St. John Ambulance epaulettes and black trousers. He also had a PHECC I.D. badge (green). He was also wearing a baseball cap.
  
  The second guy was in his twenties, wearing St. John Ambulance Hi vis bomber style jacket and black uniform trousers.
  
  As they were performing security duties I expected to see the mandatory PSA I.D. badge.
  
  Are these guys trained and registered for security duties??
  
  Have they completed a manual handling course?
  
  Have they been trained to operate a battery powered pallet truck?
  
  Also there was no ambulance on site and no apparent first aid post, so I wonder why they turned out in full St. John uniform to perform these duties?
  
  In my opinion these guys have tarnished the image of St. John Ambulance by doing what appears to be nixers in full uniform !

limericklad87

You said john ambulance style epaulettes and jacket etc.

Did you actually see the words "St john ambulance"

emmet the rover

ok i was working there in the box office last night with beoir and was chatting to the lads.sound blokes by the way.

there was no ambulance none was requested by orginisers but there was a first aid post it was in a portacabin behind mine on the beer tent level. they were on raidos on mobile patrol and were in contact with the security.

they were not doing security work as there was a full staff of certified comptent security guards on duity.

i cannot comment on the transporting beer kegs and pallett trucks part as i did not witness that.

i would be shocked if they didnt have manual handling training as ambulance crew i know i did in my unit and on my emt course.

i cannot comment to specificly on what they were wearing apart from the fact they were wearing hi viz jackets and had id showing there responder and clinical level again as per norms as i know them.

emmet the rover

just to clarify i am not in st johns ambulance

1cupoftea

Just to clarify the epaulettes being worn were clearly St. John ambulance issue, as were the baseball caps, also I would not confuse a patient handling course with a manual handling course, entirely different things.
The bomber type jacket being worn by the younger guy was St. John ambulance issue, the older guy was wearing a different style (longer) hi vis coat, as stated is the type issued to NAS paramedics, it was not branded as St. John ambulance however he had St. John epaulettes attached and was wearing St. John ambulance basesball cap.
Also, it was on Tuesday when I observed them doing the security and unloading and moving of pallets, this was before the event security personnel started on Wednesday.

emmet the rover

again i was not there on the morning shift so i cannot comment and i dont know the ins and outs of uniform protocal within the st johns

i know one of the lads works in a bar in the city so would be very familiar with lifting kegs if he was

seven_eleven

I dont work for St Johns, nor do I particularly care about this event. I just want to pop in and say my patient manual handling course also included a general manual handling module.

Oh, and I once saw a binman wearing a NAS hi-viz jacket with the writing on it scratched out. It was in pretty poor shape so I presume he came across it somewhere :pac:

flazio

Might I suggest 1cupoftea, you contact the relevant unit's Officer in Charge via stjohn.ie

I fail to see what this thread is achieving.

19hz

So they were having fun and helping other workers?....Christ what is this world coming too!!!
I rather watch them flying around on pallet trucks than seeing people in uniform smoking in a corner...I think that's worse!

villains77

i have been envolved in the set up of the beer festival last year and for the like of oktoberfest and forbidden fruit festivals and i was just there to provide assistance if some of the contracters got injured. never was i helping anyone with removal of beer kegs or security work or singing in or out contracters thats the organisers job. whats the point of this thread??

1cupoftea

Hi villains77, im delighted to hear you were involved in "set up of the beer festival last year".
The point of this thread was to enquire why two St. John personnel in full uniform were performing the tasks outlined above, i.e. security duties and manual handling/ delivery duties???????

I have no problem with anyone earning a buck or doing a favour, the issue as I see it is somebody performing these tasks while wearing the uniform of a what I consider to be a diligent and admirable voluntary service. I feel they have tarnished the image of the organisation and let down there own volunteer colleagues.

What organisation were you involved with last year when you were "involved with the set up" villains77?

villains77

hi 1cup of tea i am with st john ambulance the last 5 years. that why i posted on this forum.