St John records rise in gunshot, stab wound callouts
An increase in calls for gunshot and stab wounds in 2020 is concerning, St John says.
Ambulance data recently released showed in 2020 the number of calls relating to gunshot and stab wounds in Waikato increased to 52, up nine from 2019.
Nationally there was also an increase, with 997 calls for gunshot and stab wounds in 2020, up
106 from 2019.
However, the number of calls received overall in Waikato actually decreased, with 19,877 calls in
2020, down from 20,111 in 2019. Waikato district operations manager Ross Clarke said the increase in calls for gunshot and stab wounds was concerning.
‘‘The violence, the calls that we get for gunshots and stabbings and serious assaults . . . the way our teams manage it and respond to it, treating the patient, providing the care that they need to provide, is outstanding. I’m constantly proud of our teams.’’
People’s health issues and the more complex nature of those health issues made the job more challenging as well, Clarke said.
‘‘I’m constantly in awe of what our team does.’’
In Waikato, psychiatric/ suicide attempt calls were down, sitting at 226 in 2020 compared with 265 in 2019.
But calls for overdose/ingestion/poisoning were up, with 320 calls in 2020 compared with 302 in 2019.
Clarke said some calls did have an impact on the team, but they had support systems in place to help them.
For the year of 2020, St John responded to nearly half a million medical emergencies around New Zealand, with ambulance communications centres answering nearly 97 per cent within 15 seconds.
While Covid-19 saw a decrease in trauma-related accidents, ambulance services were still just as busy and the length of calls increased due to extra precautions.
In December 2020, St John had its busiest December yet, ambulance operations deputy chief executive Dan Ohs said.
They responded to more than 1100 incidents per day, with the escalation continuing into 2021.
‘‘Once New Zealand moved out of lockdown and people were able to socialise freely again, alcoholrelated incidents increased.
‘‘New Zealanders also began to feel the impact of job losses and this, in addition to the general social, financial and mental strain associated with Covid-19, led to an increase in mental health callouts.’’