PROBUS Club activities are alive and well, as the latest monthly meeting of the Hawks Nest & District Probus Club took place at the Hawks Nest Golf Club on Friday, 4 August.

More than 80 official members and many visitors filled the room, engaging in the club’s ethos of ‘friendship, fellowship and fun’, signing up for upcoming events and readying to receive August’s guest speaker.

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“We are a small group of like-minded people who enjoy connecting with each other,” said Ann Scully, Probus Club secretary.

The Hawks Nest Probus Group has, since its inception in 2011, maintained a gender non-discrimination policy, and currently has a healthy 130 joined up, with more on the waiting list.

The many activities of Hawks Nest Probus range from darts, croquet, mahjong or whist, to a day at the polo in Dungog, or an afternoon at the theatre in Newcastle.

Referring to the recent official demise of the other Probus Club, incoming president Peter Nealon said, “there is a message there, as long as people keep coming to the meetings, the club survives”.

This month’s main event was guest speaker Gary Vincent, clinical training officer for NSW paramedics, as well as an intensive care paramedic himself.

His wealth of experience has come from periods serving with military medical training units in East Timor, as well as training Australian Defence Force helicopter pilots landing at sea.

Mr Vincent spoke broadly about a range of highly pertinent issues, focusing on the vital need for everyone to be as realistic as possible about when – not ‘if’ – they have a medical emergency.

“Tell your family your medical details, make sure they know how to get to you,” was one key piece of advice.

“Be prepared – falls are the number-one reason for transport of elderly ambulance patients – get rid of mats and ladders.”

Mr Vincent will again be invited to speak.

By Thomas O’KEEFE