It’ll never happen to me, I’m the rescuer
People who work in emergency services care deeply about their patients but aren’t always as good at planning for their own health care, Christchurch paramedic and helicopter rescue crew member Stuart Cook says.
‘In emergency services we tend to think “it’ll never happen to me, I’m the rescuer.” At the end of the day, we plan for holidays and weddings, but we don’t tell people what we want if our health changes.’
Stuart is the latest face of the tō tātou reo advance care planning Kia whakarite: Be prepared campaign. He will be appearing on social media and posters around the motu.
You can download a PDF version of Stuart’s poster here or order physical copies by contacting acp@hqsc.govt.nz
About advance care planning
Advance care planning is the process of thinking about, talking about and planning for future health care, including end-of-life care. It helps you, the important people in your life and your health care team understand what you want – especially if you can no longer speak for yourself.
An advance care plan includes what is meaningful to you, your values and the ways you would like those caring for you to look after your spiritual and emotional needs. It can also cover whether you want to donate your organs, what sort of funeral you would like and where your important papers are.
Free resources are available to help you with these conversations. Find out more