Reverend Wayne Te Kaawa, Kaumatua
Ko Putauaki te maunga Ko Takanga i o Apa te wai Ko Tūwharetoa te iwi Ko Ngāti Umutahi te hapū Ko Hahuru te marae Ko Revd Dr Wayne Te Kaawa tōku ingoa
4 December 2023
1 March 2019
I te taha o tāku matua
Ko Maungatautari te maunga
Ko Waikato te awa
Ko Tainui te waka
Ko Ngāti Raukawa te iwi
Ko Ngāti Ruru te hapū
Ko Parawera te marae
Ko Takerei tāku ingoa whanau
I te taha o tāku whaea
Ko Te Rēinga te maunga
Ko Te Hokianga te awa
Ko Māmari te waka
Ko Te Rawara te Iwi
Ko Ngāti Manawa te hapū
Ko Waihou te marae
Ko TeTai tāku ingoa whanau
No Tamaki Makaurau ahau
Ko John tāku ingoa
John joined St John in Auckland as an ambulance officer in 1988 qualifying as an Intensive Care Paramedic in 1998. He completed the inaugural Specialist Emergency Response Team (SERT) course and was a key figure in implementing this with other agencies. The team was formed to provide tactical medical support to police specialist teams, including Search and Rescue and the police Armed Offenders squads as well as other agencies.
John completed the Cat 2 USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) course in 2003 and deployed to the 2006 Tauranga landslide and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. He has been a member of the St John Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) team since its inception in 2012.
In 2006 John began a role leading the South Auckland Brown watch team, and later headed the Central Auckland District. During this time John was involved with managing the ambulance response to the 2011 Rugby World cup events held in Auckland. He also led a team of St John Intensive Care Paramedics who provided pre-hospital cover for the Team New Zealand 2013 America’s cup challenge in both New Zealand and San Francisco.
Outside of St John, John did two deployments in 2006 and 2008 to Timor-Leste as a rescue paramedic for Operation Astute.
Following his work with St John, John took on a role for Auckland Civil Defence Emergency Management as a Readiness Advisor.