NZSA announces the third Covid-19 Guardian Award winners are Miranda Clark and Bryan Keightley from Aegis Private Security in Tauranga.
Miranda and Bryan have received their awards for outstanding service performed at Tauranga’s Baypark Covid-19 assessment centre during Alert Level 4 lockdown.
The nomination resulted from a commendation from a member of the public, Andrea Crawford, who was advised by her doctor to attend the testing centre after suffering flu like symptoms. She shared her story with the Sunlive newspaper in the Bay of Plenty who published an article about her experience.
Praising all of the staff at the assessment centre, Andrea called out the security team for the care, compassion and professionalism they showed with patients who were stressed and going through what can be an unpleasant procedure.
“I am just one of thousands, but I did not feel like I was,” she said. “I felt cared for…and the medical staff could not have done their jobs so well without such a great support crew and that includes the security team.”
“We have received several nominations for security teams working in Covid-19 assessment centres and with DHBs, and they all deserve recognition, but this one stood out,” said NZSA CEO Gary Morrison. “What is important to remember is none of the staff, including security, have dealt with anything like this before. To deliver such a high level of service and care in a situation which is fluid, escalating and involving people obviously concerned for their health, is extraordinary.”
Heather Jones, the owner and Managing Director of Aegis Private Security in Tauranga is rightly proud of her team and commented that “a great employee is like a four-leaf clover; very hard to find and lucky to have.”
Bay of Plenty District Health Board Community Based Health Services Lead Dr Joe Bourne agreed, telling Sunlive, “Although our assessment centres have been set up very swiftly to respond to Covid-19 we have been really focussed on ensuring the service provided is a quality one which includes a good patient experience.”
The NZSA introduced the Covid-19 Guardian Award as a way in which the wider community can recognise and say thanks to security personnel for their efforts. Close to 100 nominations have now been received and the Association has found the task of choosing winners among so many deserving nominees to be challenging. The NZSA plans to highlight all qualifying nominees at its New Zealand Security Awards event in early August.
The campaign calls on the public, business owners and other essential services who have used private guards to nominate individuals who have gone above and beyond or simply have been a reassuring, kind and considerate face during these testing times.
The NZSA aims to award one guard a week with a special trophy in the lead up to the annual New Zealand Security Awards nomination period starting in late May. The awards are open to anyone holding a security license or Certificate of Approval issued by the PSPLA (Ministry of Justice).
A web form has been established on the NZSA website where nominations can be made including a place to upload photos or videos of guards doing a great job. The form can be found here: https://security.org.nz/covid-19-guardian-award-nomination-form/
