Community & Business
22 July, 2026
Ambos plead for volunteers
THE Atherton Local Ambulance Committee (LAC) has made a desperate call out for volunteers to boost dwindling numbers or face closing the group completely.
LAC member Norma Shore said the committee used to operate with between 10 to 12 members but currently had about five, and this was about to change.
“I’m 85. I am just about ready to go,” she said last week.
“Our treasurer is in her late 80s, early 90s – she’s just had a fall and won’t be coming back.”
Ms Shore said the remaining members included the president, who was a young working mum, another young mother, plus a retiree who was “very active”.
“And two of our volunteers in our local area are also in the SES and other things. It’s a lot of commitment,” she added.
“You’ve got to have a certain number and when it gets down to just a couple. Yes, we’d have to close.”
The dire forecast echoes across the region.
Once a thriving and essential part of the community, some LACs are struggling, whether it be from an aging volunteer base or a shifting focus on their role.
“Mareeba shut down a few years ago. And Mt Garnet,” Ms Shore said.
“Millaa Millaa and Malanda have amalgamated to keep going, and Ravenshoe is also still going.”
It’s a far cry from when the ambulance operations were organised by the local community in the 1911–1912 period, which then led to the structured LACs in the 1940s.
In those early days, ambulance services relied solely on community fundraising for stations, equipment and wages.
“It used to be very much fundraising and that sort of thing; now the ambulances are pretty well financed by the government,” Ms Shore said.
“We still do a bit of fundraising for things, but they’re wanting us to be more of a go-between for the community and the ambulance service.
“They have all sorts of programs now that can be run, like CPR, various programs in schools, but we just don’t have the numbers.”
Ms Shore, who has been with the committee for 16 years, said her personal highlights were about raising the funds for equipment.
“I enjoyed it when we could purchase stuff for the service. Over the years, we’ve purchased training mannequins that were technologically superior to basic-grade stock; we bought very good knives to cut seatbelts; we also purchased the defibrillators that we put around the town.”
Ms Shore said the committee was important to keep going because it let the ambulance service know what the community expected and needed.
Volunteers needed no formal training, “but if someone has an interest in first aid and safety”, they could help facilitate community programs available.
According to the Queensland LAC building community resilience document, the groups had evolved through changes to legislation and their constitution and had “significantly shifted their focus from fundraising to building community resilience, increasing health literacy and making their community a safer place.
The LACs are tasked with:
Engaging with the local community to build awareness and support for ambulance services.
Fundraising to improve services, including education or research for operational staff.
Delivering community education programs such as CPR Awareness, RESQ Roooo’s, First Aid Awareness, Mental Fitness, Stop The Bleed, and Snakes Alive.
Working with local organisations and peer trainers to maintain skills and promote safety.
The Atherton LAC meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 4 pm at the Ambulance Station, 3 Mazlin St. To find out more about volunteering phone 0467391 935.
