Ambulance call-out confusion

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 543, 5 July 1994, Page 5

Ambulance call-out confusion

Last week it was reported that a Taihape ambulance attended an accident on 17 June just out of Waiouru. Ambulance officer Sandra Byford has since contacted the Bulletin saying that was not the case. She said the ambulance that went to the accident was the Waiouru ambulance but that the ambulance officer on duty in Waiouru was from Taihape. This is where people at the accident scene

had become confused in their reports. In correcting the report, tjie Buller/n would like to point out that several attempts were made to contact ambulance personnel in various locations to verify reports. All attempts, including ringing a St Johns 0800 number received no reply. Mrs Byford said things can get quite complicated sometimes (in Wanganui)

and that the freephone might take some time to get answered. Several people voiced concern that only one ambulance officer attended the scene. After speaking to ambulance control in Palmerston North it has been established that one volunteer and one full time ambulance officer from Raetihi were paged to attend the accident. The Waiouru ambulance spent 26 minutes at the accident scene so everything was finished by the time the Raetihi personnel arrived. Conditions were foggy and they were not in an ambulance, said Mrs Byford. Due to the lack of ambulance volunteers in certain areas, ambulances often operate with only the driver. Mrs Byford said the service in this area is desper-

ately short of volunteers. "Especially during the week when the volunteers are at work," she said. She said areas such as Marton and Hunterville run on volunteers alone, and there are no permanent fulltime staff in these areas. Mrs Byford said if things really turned nasty several avenues could be used to summon help at the scene. All ambulance personnel carry pagers; help can be sought from Wanganui or Palmerston North; and in extreme cases helicopter assistance can be called. Mrs Byford stressed that if an ambulance is required, even if it's not thought to be a life and death situation, people should ring 111. The occupants of the car have expressed their gratitude to the two truck drivers and locals from

Ohakune who rendered assistance at the crash scene. Someone gave one of the girls a sleeping bag. The accident victims would like to make contact with these helpers to express their personal gratitude and return the sleeping bag to its owner.