Wagga ambo volunteer numbers plummet to 'worst I've seen' in dire times

Now the volunteer-run group that saved him is in need of saving itself.

The Wagga division once had 32 people in its ranks, now they're down to just 10 adults and two cadets. It needs around 10 more volunteers to effectively run its operations around Wagga.

For Mr Chapple, being a St John volunteer has meant he's been able to give back to the group who saved his life many years ago.

"I've volunteered here in Wagga and in Sydney ... this is the worst I've seen in my entire 18 years," he said.

"Right now we're seeing a decline in people wanting to volunteer... age is a big factor.

"We do over 200 hours a year, that's exhausting, we've all got families.

"I quite often have to miss birthdays and other family functions just to be able to help St John's cover events."

St John Ambulance are called to different events held across Wagga and surrounds, their job mainly consists being present, supporting when needed and being the link between the patient and the ambulance.

This in turn sees the division receive more financial support that can be put towards equipment and supplies.

Sometimes an event they attend will be without incident, but there is always a possibility that something can happen, which is why superintendent of the Wagga combined St John ambulance division Leia Thiele thinks having the division present is an important thing.

"We can spend a whole day at an event and have maybe one Band-Aid, or we can be at another event and we can have three transports to hospital," Mrs Thiele said.

"It varies depending on the event, the day, the weather... the biggest thing is heat and nausea."

Mrs Thiele has witnessed lots of changes to the way St John's ambulance operated since she started as superintendent seven years ago, saying the COVID pandemic had a big impact on which events they could go to, how to administer CPR and whether or not you needed to be vaccinated.

But the biggest thing Mrs Thiele has noticed has been the drop in volunteer numbers and the amount of divisions operational across NSW.

"Griffith division closed down nearly 10 years ago... some divisions are just coping with two or three members," Mrs Thiele said.

"I don't know whether it's because people just don't want to volunteer anymore, or they've got busy lives.. or whether it's just things that people don't do anymore.

"Volunteering is really rewarding and giving back to your community more so.

"We're getting tired, but we're going to keep pushing.

"We're not going to let the division fold because we don't want to see that happen here."

St Johns offers training every Thursday at the Glenfield Community Park Centre for cadets (between eight and 18) from 6.30pm until 7.30pm, with adults training available from 7.30pm until 9.30pm.