Northlanders with minor ailments like stubbed toes and upset stomachs are using ambulances as "taxis" and stretching the service to the limit.
Northland St John operations manager Tony Devanney said emergency calls in Northland were logged almost hourly for St John staff to attend to patients with minor injuries or illnesses.
Over the past 12 months paramedics have arrived at Northland homes only to find people complaining of tummy aches, flu symptoms, runny noses and cut toes.
"People just ring ambulance willy nilly. Calls for unnecessary jobs have been steadily growing for quite a while," he said.
Some people called an ambulance because they did not have transport to get to hospital or could not afford a GP.
"We are not a taxi service," Mr Devanney said.
The service still promoted dialling 111 when in doubt but this was aimed at "normal" people who had a sense of responsibility and would never think of expecting a 'taxi' trip to the hospital by way of ambulance.
The workload for Northland staff, especially those in Whangarei, was increasing daily and staff were going long periods before they got their breaks, he said.
Apart from attending to unnecessary callouts, Mr Devanney said a growing population in the region and people living longer, but not necessarily healthier, contributed to an increased workload for St John staff.
The public had more expectations of the service than they did 20 years ago.
"We've only got few ambulances and limited staff and someone seriously injured may need an ambo straight away while we are tied up with these unnecessary calls."
Mr Devanney staff faced a situation where young and middle-aged people tended to call for an ambulance for minor problems, while the older generation genuinely needed medical help held back because they didn't want to trouble paramedics.
Northland was lucky to get an additional paid St John staff member recently and Mr Devanney hoped more rural staff and resources would be provided in the next funding round.
Funding is due to be announced later this month.
There are currently 300 volunteer and 50 paid St John staff servicing 19 stations with 33 ambulances in Northland.
In Whangarei, two ambulances with double crew on each, operate 24 hours daily.
Nationally, ambulance officers are warning of a crisis in the sector as overworked paramedics miss meal breaks because of heavy workloads.
Very few employees had to wait seven hours to get a meal break, but in the ambulance sector this was becoming more frequent as paramedics struggled to manage the increasing demand on the current resource base, said national ambulance sector co-ordinator Craig Page.
Sore toes and tums clogging 111 system
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