Petition highlighting Hokianga residents’ concerns about St John ambulance services heading to Parliament

St John volunteer Denis Orme and resident Jo Tucker presented the petition to Northland MP Grant McCallum on behalf of the community.

A community-led petition with more than 1100 signatures, highlighting Northlanders’ concerns about changes to St John ambulance services in the Hokianga, is on its way to Parliament.

Earlier this month the Northern Advocate reported that Hokianga residents sparked the petition to reverse Hato Hone St John’s “life-threatening” decisions to replace Rāwene’s current Mercedes Gen2 ambulance with a smaller Volkswagen first response unit.

Residents and some Northland St John volunteers say the VW first response units won’t accommodate larger patients or handle the area’s rough, rural roads.

The petition also calls for the retention of Rāwene station’s Lifepak defibrillator unit, a portable device which enables an ECG (electrocardiogram) to be transmitted to a clinical desk for immediate support.

It also calls for an immediate volunteer recruitment drive in the area.

Northland MP Grant McCallum received the petition at the Kaikohe St John Ambulance station on July 19.

It has 1157 signatures which were collected at shops, cafes, and petrol stations in the Hokianga.

Hokianga residents say the VW first response units won’t accommodate larger patients or handle the area’s rough, rural roads.

McCallum said he would present it to Parliament on behalf of the people of Hokianga this week.

“Over 1100 signatures from a community the size of the Hokianga is significant,” he said.

McCallum said he wanted assurance from St John that “the people of the Hokianga are going to have appropriate emergency care”.

“What really disappointed me, is they said the St John hadn’t consulted with residents.

“If that’s the case I’m very disappointed.

“When you live in a small rural community these things really matter.

“It’s really important that if you make a change you meet with the community and explain it to them.”

Ōmāpere fire chief June Ross said the changes to Hokianga St John ambulance services would impact volunteer firefighters.

Ōmāpere fire chief June Ross, who signed the petition, said the changes would also affect volunteer firefighters.

“We’re all volunteers and right now, we’re waiting sometimes a couple of hours for ambulances to come on the scene.

“We’re on scene for some time while we’re waiting for patients to be transported.

“If bigger patients can’t go in the back of the vehicle, that’s going to cause a delay.”

St John has previously disputed the claims and says the petition circulating “contains various inaccuracies”.

Volkswagen first-response vehicles have the same clinical tools as standard ambulances, and are designed to handle rural conditions, St John Te Tai Tokerau district operations manager Ben Lockie said.

However, when asked what those inaccuracies were, whether St John was going ahead with the changes in light of the petition, and whether residents were consulted on the changes, a spokesman said St John did not wish to comment further.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.