Hato Hone St John has supported Auckland Emergency Management and our emergency services colleagues across Auckland in the last 24 hours. On 27 January, we were involved in 520 incidents across the Auckland District – a 20 per cent increase when compared to the average daily figure for December 2022, including the early holiday period.
Four members of Hato Hone St John’s Specialised Emergency Response Team (SERT) from Auckland were deployed in 4WD vehicles during last night’s weather event to assist Fire and Emergency New Zealand. One of the SERT officers was deployed with Urban Search and Rescue.
Hato Hone St John’s SERT members are paramedics trained to work in adverse environments. Our Auckland SERT team comprises of nine full-time and four casual ambulance officers and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and commonly supports Police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand in incidents requiring specialist medical care.
Where possible, frontline staff assessed and treated patients at the scene to avoid transportation through severe flooding.
Ensuring patient safety at home has been one of our priorities during the last 24 hours and will continue to be throughout this period. Communities in the upper North Island can help by looking out for your neighbours and checking in on them, particularly the elderly or those who live alone. Follow any updates from Civil Defence and only call 111 in cases of emergency.
We would like to thank all our people who have worked tirelessly to support communities, whether directly or indirectly. From our communication centres to our ambulance and clinical staff, our staff have gone above and beyond to help people during this challenging period.
Please attribute to Olive Taylor – Hato Hone St John National Ambulance Manager.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Hato Hone St John media team
PH 0800 756 334
E media@stjohn.org.nz