Source: Radio New Zealand
St John crews are now gearing up for their busiest night. RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
St John crews who have endured the busiest winter months they’ve ever had are now gearing up for their busiest night.
New Year’s Eve, which last year had 570 incidents between 10pm and 6am, is fast approaching.
But before that is Christmas Day, on which there were 1500 last year across the whole day.
The two big days will come as paramedics are already dealing with physical and verbal abuse that has been rising each year.
“From our perspective, that is completely unacceptable,” St John general manager for ambulance operations Stu Cockburn said.
“We empower our staff, if they feel unsafe, to leave the scene and get away from the scene,” he said.
Cockburn said crews were already working long hours, rushing from one job to the next in hot conditions where there are large crowds or upset or intoxicated people.
“They’re just there to help people at their time of need and certainly the last thing they need is to be verbally or physically abused,” Cockburn said.
He said the same was true of other emergency services and hospital workers.
“Sadly, we’ve seen an increase year-on-year in violence and aggression towards our people, anything from physical, verbal threats and abuse to physical harm of our staff and damage to our vehicles and equipment,” he said.
St John said many of the incidents it had to respond to were preventable and involved alcohol, assaults and falls.
Demand for ambulance services was also going up each year, Cockburn said.
“So, yes, we’re already busy and these days are usually extra busy unfortunately.”
St John’s tips for a safe Christmas and New Year
- Keep ambulances free for life-threatening emergencies and consider alternatives like Healthline, online GP services, or visiting a local GP or pharmacy
- Have a great time but please be safe and be alert around water
- Ensure if you’re out in the sun that you’re using sunblock, wearing a hat and covering up
- If you’re preparing food, follow good food safety hygiene practices so you don’t end up with any food poisoning
- If you’re drinking, do so responsibly and drink other fluids and eat at the same time, and have a sober driver
- St John does not endorse taking drugs but it recommends using drug-checking services available at many festivals
- Be honest with ambulance teams if you have taken drugs.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
