Heartland ambulances double crew

Taupo, Turangi and Te Awamutu will be the first towns to benefit from the Government’s commitment to have two staff on every road ambulance.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman announced today the three towns would be first to benefit from the roll out and had already hired eight emergency medical assistants for Taupo and Turangi and another four for Te Awamutu.

“These recruits will work with existing crew to ensure all emergency road ambulance call-outs will be double-crewed in the coming months,” he said.

New Zealand was the only first world country to have some ambulances crewed by only one person but in May Coleman announced a $59.2 million funding boost for the service to hire another 375 ambulance staff and ensure all ambulances were double-crewed by 2021.

In the year to April there were 35,849 single-crewed responses by St John ambulances around the country.

Recruitment was now underway in Tokoroa, Ohakune, Timaru, Westport and Whangarei which were all set to be double-crewed by the end of the year.

The double crewing enhanced the safety and well-being of dedicated ambulance staff, Coleman said.

Recruitment was also underway for more paramedics who could be sent on rescue helicopters.

Research released last month showed the long-term chance of survival of cardiac arrest patients was 5 per cent higher when they were treated by two St John staff rather than one.