Germaine Srhoy

I am proficient, efficient and work well under pressure. For nearly five years now I have held a position in the St John Ambulance Ashburton team, firstly as an Emergency Medical Assistant, before completing my National Diploma in Ambulance Practise in 2021 via a course offered internally by St John. I successfully challenged my Clinical Assessment Day in November 2022, gaining the Authority to Practise as an Emergency Medical Technician. I have seen many different situations working on frontline ambulance over the last five years, and I have worked in some incredibly challenging conditions, some tragic, others deeply rewarding. Working in frontline ambulance has allowed me to further hone customer service skills initially acquired in earlier positions in retail and as Cabin Crew with Air New Zealand-emergency medicine requires a curiosity and nuance about and in dealing with people that is not typically necessary in ordinary customer facing roles. My time with St John has helped me to develop my critical thinking, logical and communication skills, allowing me to keep a cool head under pressure to continue to deliver a high level of care to both low acuity as well as critically unwell patients.

I have no guiding experience, however I am a very experienced tramper and have fostered a deep love of New Zealand's beautiful backcountry and wonderful taonga since my teens. This has manifested itself in a love of multisport, culminating in a completion of two Coast to Coast events in 2019 and 2021 as an individual and in the tandem race. I volunteered for Land Search and Rescue Rakaia for approximately 3 years from 2016. I am a regular visitor to our mountains, as a trail runner, fast packer, peak bagger and tramper on day trips and multi-day excursions, on track and off route. As well as this, over two months at the beginning of 2022 I completed the South Island section of Te Araroa. This was by far the most challenging and incredible experience of my life so far. What I learned on Te Araroa-about myself, about people, about our land, is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

My passion lies in our mountains and with my combined work and sport history I have developed into a fast thinker, capable under pressure, who has solid back country skills, a passion for our wild places, with excellent communication skills and a deep empathy for people-as well as an epic sense of humor!

Tramping-I have been an avid tramper since I was a teenager, a love that has only deepened with time. I love tramping in it's many variations-I have participated in peak bagging, fast packing, day trips and multi-day epics, as well as a thru-hike of Te Araroa's South Island section in 2022. 

Art-My paintings typically end up being of photos I have taken while out tramping, or photos of our mountains by others that have caught my eye. I feel that this is a reflection of my deep love of our backcountry and my desire to be out there as much as humanly possible.

Multisport-fitness has been a passion of mine for around 12 years, after breaking my leg in a freak horse riding accident that required many months of intense rehabilitation. I eventually arrived at multisport in 2018 as way to combine my love of fitness with that of our mountains.