Hato Hone St John is reminding the public to reserve 111 for emergencies as ambulance personnel take strike action today (Saturday, 24, August, 2024).
“At its peak, strike action will reduce ambulance capacity by 30 percent today. This leaves us with good capacity to respond to the most urgent emergencies, but it does mean there will be delays for less-urgent cases.
“In the first part of the morning, we saw a reduction in calls, but since mid-morning we have seen a surge in calls by 15-20 percent.
"By all means in an emergency dial 111, however for less-urgent, clearly non-life-threatening cases we are asking the public to call Healthline, or seek advice from their pharmacy in the first instance.”
Strike action is set to continue through the day, and Hato Hone St John anticipates that the late afternoon and early evening could be particularly challenging due to shift start times and historic incident volumes at this time.
ENDS
Please attribute to Dan Ohs, Hato Hone St John, Deputy Chief Executive, Ambulance Operations.
For more information: https://www.stjohn.org.nz/news--info/action/
https://www.facebook.com/StJohnNewZealand/videos/455113007235182