Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Is 30 minutes too long to wait for an ambulance?

By <b>Abigail Caspari</b>
Rotorua Daily Post·
5 Jun, 2008 01:58 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article


An elderly Rotorua woman had to lie on the road at Rotorua's City Focus for almost 30 minutes because there was no ambulance available to pick her up.

Bystanders who went to the woman's aid were angry it took so long for an ambulance to arrive but Rotorua
St John staff say both their ambulances were at other jobs at the time.

The injured woman, believed to be 82, was walking across the pedestrian section of the road at the south-east corner of the City Focus about 11.50am yesterday when she tripped and fell, twisting her knee. An ambulance did not arrive until 12.15pm after several calls had been made for one.

Rotorua St John Ambulance staff had two other emergency calls around the same time and the elderly woman's injuries were not life-threatening.

City Focus manager Dennis Oliver said one of his staff called emergency services and was told ambulance officers were tied up at other emergencies but would be there as soon as possible.

Mr Oliver did not want to move the woman because she appeared to be in pain. She was conscious and was covered with a blanket and made as comfortable as possible.

City Focus staff put out cones to stop traffic turning left into Tutanekai St from Hinemoa St. Traffic was diverted for about 30 minutes.

The Daily Post contacted the ambulance service after bystanders said they had been waiting for half an hour for an ambulance. We were told by staff at the ambulance service central control room they were aware of the situation but were tied up taking someone who had stopped breathing to Rotorua Hospital.

The person on the phone said an ambulance would be there as soon as possible and asked if the woman was breathing.

A bystander who stopped to help said the injured woman was distressed, in pain and cold.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was concerned about how long it took for an ambulance to arrive.

"It was too long ... I really think it's poor service."

She said ambulance officers apologised for the delay when they arrived.

Rotorua St John Ambulance area manager Gary Timms said he did not know how long it took Rotorua ambulance officers to respond as calls went through a central control room.

He explained ambulance officers were not called until they become free from any other incident they were attending.

He said the call was one of three the local ambulance service received around the same time and the city's two ambulances were tied up at the other two jobs. Although the elderly woman, who was taken to Rotorua Hospital, was not comfortable, her injuries were not life threatening.

Mr Timms said he did not think Rotorua needed more ambulances.

"It was just one of those things. Three jobs came up around the same time more or less."

Police were called when the ambulance did not arrive but Senior Constable Rob Ball, who was at the scene, would not comment except to confirm the woman fell, twisted her knee and was in pain.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM

A Rotorua downhill rider clocks the fastest speed of the round-six final for an 8th place.

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM
No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

12 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP