Robert Dummermuth spends his shifts racing the clock.
Four minutes for a heart attack. Half an hour for major bleeding.
The quicker, the better, even if all that is required is a bandaid and a cup of tea.
But the 77-year-old volunteer ambulance driver fears hitting those targets will soon become impossible.
His rural community of Condingup, on WA's south coast, may soon lose its ambulance because there are not enough fellow volunteers to staff it.
St John WA community paramedic Paul Gaughan said "unfortunately" they were close to moving the vehicle to Esperance.
"We'll probably have to bring the ambulance back into town, " he said.
"So that it can be used here until we can revive it at Condingup again."
The move will add at least an hour to the region's emergency response times.
The area is big on farming and tourism, resulting in everything from surfing accidents, to motorbike crashes, to heavy machinery incidents and at least one triple zero call for the local ambulance a month.
However, Mr Gaughan said Condingup was not alone in its struggle.
He said Munglinup, about an hour to the west of Esperance, also faced critical shortages, as did countless small communities throughout the state.
"It's very concerning," Mr Gaughan said.
"Unfortunately, with the system, we do rely on volunteers in remote and rural locations.
"And we really do need people to put up their hand at the moment and consider it, it may not be a job for everyone, but we give you full support for training.
"And it would be helping out your community."
Current model 'not sustainable'
But Fiona Scalon, the national ambulance coordinator for the United Workers Union, said WA's heavy reliance on volunteers to respond to emergencies was unique to the state and needed to change.
An inquiry into the delivery of ambulance services in Western Australia earlier this year echoed her thoughts and found the current model was not sustainable.
The final report stated that volunteer numbers were decreasing, emergencies were increasing, and response times were getting slower.
It recommended the WA Department of Health investigate rolling out more hybrid models — which would mean paying for more staff to work alongside volunteers.
But Ms Scalon said while there was a place for volunteers, they should be supported by a safety net of paid professionals.
Currently, Mr Gaughan is the only paramedic employed across the entire Esperance region.
"There are some places [around the country] where there are career paramedics located in those kinds of [regional] environments," Ms Scalon said.
"And those governments have determined that, yeah, it is an expensive model, but they have an obligation to the community, and they provide it.
"It shouldn't matter where you live. You should be provided with the kind of pre-hospital emergency care that you would enjoy if you live in a major metropolitan area as well."
WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has been contacted for comment.
'Wonderful feeling' to save a life
Mr Dummermuth said the loss of an ambulance service in Condingup would certainly raise questions for residents.
"I'm 78 in a couple of weeks' times. There's every chance I'm going to need an ambulance," he said.
"And I hope somebody's around to drive it for me when I do need it."
But Mr Dummermuth said he did not see the work as a chore and urged others to get involved.
"It is quite a wonderful feeling, particularly if you have a successful outcome and you really know you've saved someone's life," he said.
"That gives you a really good feeling inside — it will keep you going a couple of weeks."
