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A major city was left without an ambulance for an hour on a busy weekend night after three emergency vehicles were sent to neighbouring towns.
St John has confirmed three Hamilton-based ambulances were sent to Ngaruawahia and Huntly on callouts last Saturday night, leaving the city without any stationed ambulances between 8pm and 9pm.
A Waikato paramedic says the staff shortage could have cost a life and it was unacceptable a city the size of Hamilton was exposed for so long.
"It's shocking and the general public don't know. God forbid, your child walks out on to the road and gets hit by a car, you imagine waiting for 40 minutes for an ambulance while it gets back from Huntly?"
St John, New Zealand's largest ambulance provider, defended staffing levels, saying emergency resources were never stretched to break-ing point.
Two ambulances went to Huntly-including the double-crewed Life Support Unit-to care for a 10-year-old boy who had cut his chin after falling from a bike and was losing consciousness, and a teenager who had hit his head after jumping off a bridge.
The Huntly-based ambulance was busy in Te Kauwhata supporting the local crew with a callout.
Eddie Jackson, chief executive of the Midland St John region, said Saturday was a busy night but at no time was Hamilton without emergency response resources. Advanced paramedics were available "24/7" in rapid response vehicles fitted with lifesaving equipment such as defibrillators, Jackson said. However, the cars could not carry patients to hospital, which was often all an ambulance could do for seriously hurt people.
Area managers were also on call - although one lived 28km away in Te Awamutu - and helicopters were also available in an emergency, Jackson said. But the rescue helicopter was grounded with a damaged tail rotor last Saturday.
Midlands region operations manager Brent Neilson said ambulances from satellite towns could also respond.
On the Saturday night in question, ambulances from Otorohanga and Te Awamutu took patients to Waikato Hospital, but were given the all-clear by about 8pm because they weren't needed, Neilson said.
Last week, the Herald on Sunday reported ambulance officers had been forced to use friends and family of patients to drive ambulances to hospital while they cared for patients in the back. Staff and volunteer shortages have forced civilians, police officers and fire crew to take the wheel on rare occasions.
On Monday, a patient at the Anglesea Clinic in Hamilton suffered a heart attack and had to be rushed to Waikato Hospital in a single-crewed ambulance. The paramedic had to leave the man unmonitored in the back although there were three ambulances available only two blocks away.
The ambulance workers' union has raised safety concerns as 15 per cent of callouts are attended by a sole officer.
St John documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday reveal double crewing of ambulances is considered the only clinically acceptable response to an emergency. Single-crewed responses were deemed unsafe for both patients and staff, according to minutes from the Clinical Advisory Group 2005.
"We must resist attempts by the Ministry of Health and ACC to promote single officer response as acceptable," the minutes state.
Union spokesman Neil Chapman said workers met with Health Minister Pete Hodgson last year to discuss their concerns.
