HIGH DEMAND FOR HATO HONE ST JOHN AMBULANCE SERVICES CONTINUES

Hato Hone St John continues to play a vital role in Aotearoa New Zealand's health system, responding to sustained high demand for its ambulance services.  

Frontline ambulance crews had an exceptionally busy year in 2024, responding to 450,201 incidents nationwide—a 2.8% increase on 2023 (437,959).  

111 Call Handlers answered 686,135 - 111 calls, a slight decrease of 0.6% from 2023 (689,980) but representing a remarkable 23.5% increase compared to 2019 (555,807 calls) and a staggering 92.6% growth since 2013 (355,992 calls).  

Improved response times for immediately life-threatening emergencies, such as suspected cardiac or respiratory arrests was a key focus for Hato Hone St John last year. Compared to 2023, our Urban 6-minute response performance improved by 2.5%, while our Rural 10-minute response performance increased by 3.3%. This increase in performance reflects the impact of the final rollout of 21 additional rapid response units, which have been progressively deployed across the motu over the past two years, enhancing our ability to provide faster, life-saving care in critical situations. 

The slight decrease in 111 call volumes is attributed to improved response times, which have reduced the number of follow-up calls from those waiting for ambulances to arrive. 

The busiest locations for ambulance responses across the motu were consistent with 2023 too, with Auckland, Canterbury, Hamilton/Waikato, Manawatū, and the Western Bay of Plenty coming out on top again.   

Breathing problems and chest pain remained the leading reasons for ambulance callouts in 2024, with breathing-related incidents rising 5% from 2023 (54,421 in 2024 compared to 51,834 in the previous year) and chest pain incidents increasing by 1.3% (53,547 in 2024 compared to 52,866). Mental health-related callouts also saw an uptick, rising 1.8% on 2023 (12,273 compared to 12,061). 

Hato Hone St John also noted a 2.2% increase in callouts involving firearms or weapons, as well as a 2.1% rise in incidents involving animals causing injury - highlighting evolving community safety challenges for first responders. 

Building on our efforts over the past few years, we will continue leveraging innovation to maximise the number of patients diverted away from emergency departments. Our successful ‘see and treat’ approach saw 16.2% of patients assessed by ambulance crews treated at home, negating the need to transport to hospital or other medical facilities. 

Holiday season statistics  

The holiday period between Christmas and New Year remained one of the busiest for ambulance staff, with (13,991) callouts between 24 December 2024 and 1 January 2025, up 1.4% from the same period the previous year. The busiest holiday hotspots included Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, and Tauranga/Mt Maunganui. 

The top incidents on Christmas Day 2024 were referral from a health practitioner, breathing problems and chest pain, followed by falls/ back injuries and unconsciousness/passing out. 

Looking ahead 

To ensure the sustainability of its life-saving services and to meet the growing demand across the country, Hato Hone St John is now seeking a new Government contract that fully covers operational costs for delivering the contracted services, a sustainable level of capital funding and adequate support for essential repairs and maintenance. 

“Every New Zealander deserves equitable access to timely emergency care. While we are proud of the support we provide, the current funding model limits our ability to fully meet the increasing demand,” says Dan Ohs, Deputy Chief Executive, Ambulance Operations. “What we are looking for in our next contract with Government would ensure we can continue to respond effectively to emergencies, invest in our people, and deliver the level of care that New Zealanders need and deserve.” 

Breakdown of reasons for calling 111 for an ambulance by chief complaint  

The data below covers the last two years and is listed in descending order. It reflects the number of emergency ambulance service incidents, not the number of patients which means actual patient numbers are higher.