Hours pay off for volunteer

By Shaun Inguanzo
A SPRINGVALE volunteer has been honoured for giving more than 10,000 hours of unpaid service to St John Ambulance.
Michelle Ruemmler was last weekend given the most prestigious award a St John Ambulance member can receive – The Order of St John – for her tireless commitment to the Greater Dandenong unit, which she leads.
Ms Ruemmler said she was delighted with the award, having joined the service in November 1986 in order to spend time helping others.
Along with her award, Ms Ruemmler received a citation from St John Ambulance, which praised her for her efforts.
“A divisional superintendent since 1996, she also puts in many hours of administrative work to keep the division functioning at a high standard,” the citation reads.
“She has taken the opportunity to take part in training courses to increase her first aid qualification and management skills, and sets a very high standard in these areas.”
Ms Ruemmler said her most rewarding moments came from treating those in need at many local and high-profile events.
“Several years ago at a swimming carnival we had a child unconscious, pulled out of the water not breathing, but we had him breathing by the time an ambulance arrived,” she said, recalling a significant moment.
But the volunteer job has opened Ms Ruemmler’s eyes to the reality that sometimes there is only so much that can be done to save a life.
“We had a gentleman once at (Sandown) racecourse who passed away,” she said.
“We had worked on him some time until an ambulance got there. Neither they or us could save his life, but we felt we had done everything we could do. We worked well as a team, and afterwards, although it was very sad to see he passed away, we knew we didn’t go away saying ‘what if we had done this’.”
Those moments have failed to stop Ms Ruemmler from soldiering on, the Springvale resident adding that without the help of volunteers from St John Ambulance, even those who pass away would not have had the chance of living.
Ms Ruemmler thanked her family and friends for their support.