By ANGELA GREGORY
WHANGAREI - An ambulance called to an emergency near Whangarei was delayed about 15 minutes with a flat tyre after its trolley jack failed.
The scare has prompted an urgent check on the types of jacks fitted in Northland's ambulance fleet.
Shirley MacLucas said the ambulance turned up at her Parua Bay home, 20km southeast of Whangarei, close to midnight on Friday with a flat rear-right tyre.
"I heard it hissing as the ambulance backed up the drive."
The two ambulance officers first attended to her husband, whose heartbeat was abnormally high.
After stabilising him, the officers tried to change the flat tyre, but the jack could not raise the ambulance high enough.
Mrs MacLucas said she thought it incredible that the jack would not lift the vehicle.
"They asked me if I had a scissors jack but I didn't have one. I thought of the caravan jack but it looked to be the same as what they had."
Mrs MacLucas then remembered the bottle jack in her ute, which could cope with heavy loads, and the tyre was finally changed.
She had also supplied various tools to the officers, including a screwdriver and vice grips, to help them to replace the tyre.
The Northland area ambulance manager, Grant Pennycook, said there had been a "system failure" which called for an immediate investigation.
"Any situation which impedes our response is a concern."
Mr Pennycook said all of the 32 ambulances in Northland would be checked today to ensure that they had jacks that worked.
He was surprised the 1.5-tonne jack had failed the Chevrolet Sierra vehicle, which was one of the most common ambulances in the country.
"It's never happened before ... We will have to review whether that is the wrong jack for that vehicle."
Jack failure holds up ambulance run
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