St John New Zealand is a charitable organisation providing healthcare services to the New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 public. Services include emergency and non-emergency ambulance treatment and transport, first aid training, and first aid supplies. The organisation is funded by Ministry of Health

New Zealand Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health , formerly the Department of Health from 1903 to 1993, is a department of the New Zealand government. This is the channel through which the government channels its funding for health services, VOTE: Health.The ministry is overseen by the Minister of Health in the New Zealand...

 and District Health Board funds (via ambulance service contracts), ACC

Accident Compensation Corporation

The Accident Compensation Corporation is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for administering the Accident Compensation Act 2001. The Act provides support to citizens, residents, and temporary visitors who have suffered personal injuries....

 levies, part and full charges to patients, plus donations and fundraising.

History

A branch of the St John Ambulance

St. John Ambulance

St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...

 was first founded in Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand, in 1885. Further branches quickly spread across the country providing first aid and patient transport and in 1945, due to the efforts of St John in New Zealand during the Second World War, the organisation was elevated to a full Priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

, with the Governor-General of New Zealand as the Prior.

During the 1970s and 1980s much restructuring took place in response to changing social and economic conditions, moving away from the traditional militaristic structure and resulting in the current modern organisation.

Today, St John New Zealand is a major health service provider in New Zealand. They provide 90% of the emergency and non-emergency ambulance cover for the New Zealand population, emergency care and first aid at public events, support phonelines for the elderly and house-bound, hospital patient transport, public first aid training, health products and a youth programme.

Statistics

The organisation treated or transported 371,224 patients in the year ending 30 June 2010, attending 309,051 separate incidents. The 601 ambulances or operational vehicles (based at 193 stations) covered over 17 million kilometres in the same time. Staff also attended 9,574 events. Demand for St John services is growing steadily, with the organisation reporting increases of 6-8% per year.

In early 2010, St John announced that they have been be replacing a large amount of their aging ambulance vehicles, at about twice the usual rate, as their former vehicles had in many cases travelled over 400,000 km each. The new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light and heavy commercial vehicle, built by Daimler AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a van, chassis cab and minibus, and sold as a Mercedes model, except in the U.S. where it is built from complete knock down kits and was sold by Freightliner until 2010 when Mercedes...

 vans, a large amount of which will be used in the Northern Region, are equipped with numerous advanced features and medical equipment such as Stryker Corporation stretchers at a total cost of $145,000 each, and have been described as being a great boon to the organisation's front-line staff.

Funding and safety issues

In 2007, St John reported that funding issues and problems with staffing have dangerously increased the number of single-person ambulance call-outs, mainly but not only in rural areas. Normally two staff are considered the only safe solution both for patient and staff safety (this also allows one ambulance officer to drive to the hospital, while the other treats the patients). St John have noted that the issue could be fixed for about NZ$ 5 million per year, but Ministry of Health officials have noted that they consider some two-person-callouts as an inefficient use of resources.

In 2008, St John reported that attacks and abuse directed at their ambulance officers was a growing concern. Around 70 incidents had occurred within the last three financial years, with a number of additional incidents not officially reported. St John considers that a growing lack of respect towards its staff is in part due to television medical drama programs such as ER

ER (TV series)

ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, where treatment tended to be speedy and extremely successful, when in reality, ambulance officers often cannot save patients in the most difficult cases.

ASB Partnership

In 2008, St John and ASB Bank

ASB Bank

ASB is a New Zealand bank owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It is one of the largest New Zealand banks, with branches throughout the country. It operates BankDirect, a branchless banking service that provides service via phone, Internet,...

 initiated a partnership, with St John receiving substantial sponsorship from ASB. In return, the ASB logo will be printed on all St John vehicles, and the revised uniform (to be issued before 2009).

St John Youth

St John also operates a programme for school aged children aged 6 - 18, the St John Youth

St John Youth New Zealand

St John Youth in New Zealand is a cadet-based programme designed for children and young people aged between 6 and 18. Members who turn 18 tend to remain in St John Youth in leadership roles....

. It is a cadet-based programme that trains young people in leadership, first aid, healthcare and drill

Drill

A drill or drill motor is a tool fitted with a cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit or driver bit, used for drilling holes in various materials or fastening various materials together with the use of fasteners. The attachment is gripped by a chuck at one end of...

. Competitions and the Grand Prior Awards Scheme make up a significant part of the programme.

External links

• St John New Zealand (official website)
• St John Youth NZ (official website)