Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Residents in the small King Country town of Te Kūiti are concerned the community could lose its only ambulance.
The union for ambulance personnel says staff in Te Kūiti have informed him of a proposal by Hato Hone St John to move the ambulance north to either Ōtorohanga or Te Awamutu.
St John said there were no plans to close down the station, which employs seven full-time staff.
NZ Ambulance Association division chairman Mark Quin said the station only had one 24/7 ambulance and if that was lost, the 4600-strong community would be reliant on either volunteer services or ambulances to come from other towns, with the nearest a 15-minute drive away.
He claimed that if the change went ahead, it could happen as soon as June and that it would mean Te Kūiti would become a first-response station only, with volunteers as opposed to permanent staff.
However, he said the prospect of a volunteer service in Te Kūiti was uncertain because it was aleady hard to attract ambulance staff to rural areas.
Quin claimed that if it was approved, St John would not be able to guarantee an emergency medical service day or night within its contracted response times.
'We'd be lost without the ambulance'
Long-time Te Kūiti resident Josie McQuilkin said when she fainted in the supermarket recently she didn't need to wait long for an ambulance.
"I think they said the ambulance would be here in seven minutes. We'd be lost without the ambulance for things like that."
McQuilkin, 80, said she was alarmed at the possibility the ambulance might not be continuously available.
"What else have we got? Nothing. I'm sure someone would drive you up to the hospital but you can't rely on people to do that can you."
King Country Greypower treasurer Shane Ashby said any reduction in ambulance services in the town would be a major setback for residents.
"We already wait a long time for an ambulance to arrive, so to not even have one we could be waiting hours and hours for it to come down from where ever it's going to come from."
Ashby said he had personal experience of waiting a long time for an amublance in Te Kūiti.
"When my mother was alive - which would be coming up four years ago - we waited 3 1/2 hours for the ambulance to turn up because she had taken a fall at home, and because she had cellulitis my brother and I couldn't pick her up because I'm a double amputee."
He said during that time there was no contact from St John to say how long the ambulance would be.
Hillview Rest Home and Hospital general manager Katie Payne said a longer wait for an ambulance could be life-threatening for elderly residents.
"If they've taken it further away and they're already busy enough as it is, it's going to make it even longer for our people if we've got a serious emergency here and we need them, that's going to be detrimental to their life."
'It can be challenging to attract staff'
Te Kūiti Medical Centre practice manager Peter Liddle said ambulances frequented the hospital and adjoining medical centre each day and losing the ambulance would take away that emergency medical service.
Hato Hone St John manager for Waitomo Craig Scott said in a statement there were no current proposals to close Te Kūiti's ambulance station and St John remained committed to providing ambulance services in Te Kūiti and surrounding communities.
Scott said the seven paid staff were a mix of paramedics, emergency medical technicians and emergency medical assistants and all could respond to an emergency call out.
"In any rural area where there are typically less people to begin with, it can be challenging to attract staff - but rural locations are often more attractive to certain age demographics."
Scott said St John routinely assessed how it deployed ambulance resources and as part of those reviews it may discuss the ideas with staff but this may not result in change.
"Hato Hone St John effectively models our resourcing based on each community's needs, and we also work in partnership with other healthcare providers and emergency service organisations to ensure coverage is available 24/7."
The news comes weeks after St John apologised "unreservedly" to the family of an elderly Rangiora woman who died after having a heart attack and waiting 70 minutes for an ambulance.
