St John Unable To Give Clear Justification For Ambulance Driven Passed Injured Woman

The New Zealand is a member of The NZ Media Council. Take the poll: are you confident in St. John's ability to respond to 111-callouts?

In a statement to The NZR, St. John has not confirmed whether an ambulance that drove passed an injured woman in the Christchurch CBD, was on its way to an emergency callout or was full.

On Friday afternoon, a St. John ambulance was seen passing an injured woman in broad daylight on Hereford Street. She lay on the pavement for about one hour before another ambulance attended the scene. The ambulance in question ambled by without using its sirens or lights.

While we acknowledge that no delay is ideal, our aim is to send the closest, most appropriate emergency resource to patients with the greatest need, as soon as possible.

St. John

Friday’s incident has brought into question St John’s ability to respond to 111-callouts. In a straw poll, four of seven readers did not have confidence in its ability. Have your say below -

The NZR contacted St John from the scene and was told by a responder to send an email to its media team. On Saturday, the media team said it would respond after the weekend.

Today, St John replied -

“Hato Hone St John uses an internationally accredited system to triage patients to determine their priority level and the response required. When demand for ambulance services is high, some patients who do not have an immediately life-threatening condition may wait longer for an ambulance.