Parents urged to call ambulance, not drive

Frantic parents are further risking their sick children's lives by making mercy dashes to hospitals when they should be calling an ambulance.

St John Ambulance is urging parents to phone for help rather than taking it into their own hands when a child becomes seriously ill.

"St John is aware that parents can panic when children are unwell," said Auckland ambulance team manager Patsy Carlyle. "It is a natural protective reaction that a parent will want to act. But driving to get help just increases the danger of an accident occurring.

"The risk is that the child's condition could deteriorate without them having access to the medical intervention that is available through a fully equipped ambulance and its trained crew."

In two recent incidents that came to the notice of St John, parents bundled seriously ill children into cars and drove to seek urgent medical attention when the patients should have been transported by ambulance.

"One morning I had to meet a car parked on the side of the motorway with a child having a seizure inside. Mum was holding the child in the front seat unrestrained," Ms Carlyle said.

"As a St John paramedic, I am making a plea for parents to think about their child's safety before putting them at such risk."

St John staff answering 111 calls for an ambulance figure out how best to respond to the emergency.

Ms Carlyle said people should not hesitate to phone 111 in health emergencies such as seizures, shortness of breath, asthma, uncontrolled bleeding, airway obstructions and babies and children who stop breathing.