Toxic mould at ambulance site adds to health woes in Bay of Islands

Patient transfer services have been moved to Kerikeri station after mould closed the Kawakawa ambulance station. Photo / Peter de Graaf

By Peter de Graaf & Ruth Hill, RNZ

Kawakawa’s St John Ambulance station has been closed after the discovery of toxic mould.

St John Northland operations manager Ben Lockie said the station shut immediately last Friday, and ambulance services had been relocated to other stations in the area.

The decision was made quickly to minimise any further exposure to staff, following advice from St John’s environmental experts about black mould spores found in the building.

“In the interim, emergency ambulance services based out of Kawakawa have been relocated to Paihia station and patient transfer services have been moved to Kerikeri station,” Lockie said.

It was not yet known what would need to be done to fix the problem.

“In the meantime, further investigations and discussions with our property team and area committee will need to be completed before we make any decisions,” he said.

Ambulance Association chairman Mark Quin said it was not the first time a station had been closed due to black mould. The Taupō station was one.

“Maybe it’s another symptom of the state of the ambulance service,” he said.

“While there’s a significant amount of work being done upgrading some of the stations around the country, there’s also a number of stations that still require that, and Kawakawa was one of them.”

Kawakawa’s ambulance service has already been under extra pressure due to a shortage of medical staff at Bay of Islands Hospital last weekend.

While the emergency department remained open, the doctor shortage meant some patients who would have been admitted to the medical ward in Kawakawa were instead transported by ambulance to Kaitaia - a round trip of about four hours.

Paihia’s ambulance station is 16km from Kawakawa via State Highway 11. Kerikeri St John is 30km away via SH1 and SH10.

According to Mbie’s Building Performance website, inhaling or coming into contact with large numbers of black mould spores can cause allergies, aggravation of respiratory problems, eye and skin irritation, headaches and nausea.

People with asthma or weakened immune systems, as well as infants and the elderly, are at greatest risk.

Most people who experience adverse effects from exposure to mouldy buildings recover fully once the mould is removed.