Decades of service and friendship forged in Mount Barker 

Whether it be a neighbour or a stranger, the St John WA Mount Barker Sub Centre team is there for the community when it matters most.  

Within this team are a cohort of veteran volunteers who have stuck by the ambulance service and each other for decades.  

Mount Barker’s current team of 35 volunteers have clocked up more than 400 years of combined service, with their five longest serving volunteers contributing half of those years.  

During this time the team has seen each other through many challenges and forged a strong bond that feels more like family.   

Among them is Elsa Drage, who has volunteered for a remarkable 51 years with SJWA, all while raising six children and running a farm.  

Elsa was driven to learn first aid after her daughter lost two of her toes in an accident on the family farm.  

“I had to take her to Albany hospital, and I didn’t realise that it would have been a good idea to pick the toes up and bring them too,” she said.  

Elsa is currently Mount Barker’s second longest serving active volunteer behind Neil Crofts, who will celebrate 56 years in October.  

“All I ever wanted to do was to help people in the community. There have been many times out on the farm when the  neighbour will call you up to come over and help,” she said. 

“I found the benefits of knowing first aid were just marvelous.” 

Elsa and her family have been a fixture of Mount Barker for more than 60 years and you’d be hard pressed to find a local she doesn’t know.  

But being on the frontline of emergencies in the close-knit town meant she sometimes faced devastating situations involving people she knew.  

“I don’t think anybody who puts their time into volunteering would ever forget some of the incidents, like nursing a person who has died in your arms in the van before you get to Albany,” Elsa said.  

“I’ve also delivered two babies in the van on the side of the road.  

“They are the things you never forget but I say you have to move on and look at what you can do to help other people, that’s my philosophy. 

“I always say, I did what I could.” 

Elsa said although she considered hanging up her uniform from time to time, she continued to enjoy giving back to her community.   

“There are times when I think I might be getting too old, but I feel that while I am able to do it I will,” she said.  

“I love working with everybody here, we all love and help one another.” 

Lynda Tyler, volunteer of 27 years, cemented her commitment to the ambulance service after moving to Wellstead to farm with her husband and five daughters.  

Close to a major highway and beach, road accidents were rife in the tiny town which relied on ambulances from surrounding towns in emergencies.  

“All we had was the shop van, an Oxy-Viva (oxygen resuscitation kit) and a trundle stretcher which was not even tied down,” Lynda said.  

The need for a dedicated ambulance in town was made clear when Lynda’s neighbour experienced a devastating farm fire which claimed his life.  

“We had to transport him in the shop van and meet the Albany ambulance along the track to transfer him for further care – it was horrendous,” she said.  

After the incident, the town got its first ambulance, donated by Mount Barker Sub Centre.  

Years later, Lynda and her family made the move to the town.   

“I thought I’d like to live in Mount Barker and volunteer here as our payback for giving us an ambulance all those years ago,” she said.  

As she nears three decades with SJWA, Lynda’s passion for helping others and her team remains strong.  

In the last financial year, she contributed a huge 704 hours. 

“I love the people here and we have such a great time – we say it’s the green family,” she said. 

“You meet so many interesting people in their darkest moments and I love the fact that you can walk through town, and they will recognise you and say thank you.” 

Volunteering comes naturally for Emergency Medical Assistant Rob Clarke who has been a part of SJWA for 34 years. 

Rob, who also volunteered for the bushfire brigade and State Emergency Services, said giving back was just part of country life. 

“It’s about helping the community and being there when the community needs it,” he said.  

“Volunteers are very important, and everybody volunteers in the country for one thing or another. 

“This group of people, they are all fantastic and we all help one another.” 

Rob said plenty had changed since he started with SJWA more than three decades ago. 

“There was a job a week when I first started and now it is two, maybe three jobs a day,” he said.  

“When I first started there were two women in the sub centre, Elsa being one, and now there are more women than men.  

“It has done the full circle, and the girls are just so good, far better than I will ever be.” 

For more information on volunteering visit St John Change Lives.