St Johns pleads for more volunteers

St John is making a public appeal for more volunteers as demand for ambulance services continues to grow.

Chief operations officer Keven Tate said increasing chronic health conditions such as diabetes and obesity meant the demand for St John Ambulance service was continually growing.

He said the demand has grown steadily at a rate of six to eight per cent per year over the past ten years.

"Currently just over 2300 volunteer ambulance officers work alongside 812 paid St John ambulance officers, providing ambulance services to more than 85 per cent of the country's population."

Mr Tate said there were a range of volunteer roles at St John, including ambulance officers and events volunteers.

"Our trained volunteers are a highly valued part of our service. Without volunteers, there would be no Ambulance service at all in some parts of the country."

- NZPA