“I think it’s a real privilege to be a frontline ambulance officer and serve the community no matter whether it’s this community or in the city or wherever we are. I think it’s a real privilege and I believe it’s a calling as well” – Peter Yandall.
At age 60, instead of slowing down, Peter Yandall saw the light: the flashing lights of an ambulance. He answered the call and volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at the Mangawhai Station.
“We respond to lots of different jobs where it’s medical, motor vehicle incidents, accidents, resus, cardiac arrest so anything that requires a medical technician we’ll respond,” he says.
Peter has now been on call with Hato Hone St John for nine years.
“My wife and I said, ‘Well, we are going to be retiring soon; this is our retirement place.’ I sat back and thought, ‘What can I do for the community?’ I wanted to be involved somewhere along the line,” he says.
“A friend who was a new ambulance officer here for St John said, ‘Why don’t you come and join us? If you’re looking for something to do, why don’t you come be a volunteer at Hato Hone?’ I thought, ‘Yeah, I think I can do that.”
Rather than being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, he wanted to step in and help.
“I think it’s that basic human connection that I want to foster,” he reflects.
“If I hear it’s a little child or if it’s a 10 year old or a six year old. The first thing that comes to mind is my grandchildren and I thought if nobody is going to help my grandchildren how do they feel? You know I want to be there to be that help.”
Tautua, or the spirit of serving others in need is in his DNA. He treats people at their most vulnerable moments.
“Yeah I think we bring a bit of hope that, ever since that I’ve been with Hato Hone Saint John the green uniform tends to speak a lot and I think we, the public, have that mindset that once a green uniform turns up everything is going to be ok. Once the ambulance is there, everything is going to be ok.”
He says sometimes the best cure is simply feeling heard.
“I was put in that place to be a help to somebody and I really enjoyed it not for my own gratification but I saw a patient that was on the verge of doing something really terrible to just be a guy that just admitted that he needed help and was crying in the back, a grown man,” he says.
“And I just thought, you know, that’s all people needed was just someone to listen to I suppose and I was given the tools by the job that I’m in.”
The former painter traded his paintbrushes in for medicine, and his Pasifika heritage brings a unique advantage to his role.
“Thats been a real help in the job that I do with Hato Hone especially when I’m working in South Auckland you get to meet a lot of Sāmoans and Tongans, island people, and when you have that connection.”
While he cares for others, it is his family that keeps him grounded and motivated.
His daughter, Natalia Yandall, says, “Oh, it’s just him to a T.”
“He gets to connect with people and he gets to help people and that’s what he’s always done, he’s always been like,would do anything. For not just us and his family but he would do anything for any stranger on the street.”
Even with the scope of his current EMT duties, Peter wants to do more. Driven by his passion for serving and saving lives, he is currently studying to become a fully qualified paramedic.
Sheree Hassan, Group Operations Manager at the Mangawhai Station, agrees: “Peter is a very rare kind of guy.”
“He just is willing to jump out there do things, always have a smile, always happy to help out. So yep, he’s a credit to us here at Saint John and to the Mangawhai area,” she added.
Through his dedication, Peter proves that age is just a number when it comes to answering a call to serve.
“I think it’s a real privilege to be a frontline ambulance officer and serve the community no matter whether it’s this community or in the city or wherever we are. I think it’s a real privilege and I believe it’s a calling as well.”
