General
Funding
Paramedics
Ambulances
Communications

General

Q - Are you part of St John?

A - No, we are not affiliated with St John - Wellington Free Ambulance is the sole emergency service provider for the Greater Wellington area (approximately 15% of New Zealand), while St John operates its emergency services outside of this area. The other major difference between us and St John is that they charge patients for use of their non-ACC covered services, while Wellington Free Ambulance provides it's emergency services as free-to-the-patient - the only free ambulance service in New Zealand.

Q - Do you charge for your services?

A - No - as a non-profit organisation, we do not charge for providing emergency services to the Greater Wellington community. We are the only free ambulance service in a New Zealand city, and the only free service in a capital city in the Southern Hemisphere.

Q - How many ambulance stations are there and where are they?

A - We operate from nine ambulance stations, including Newtown, Thorndon (also our Headquarters and Fleet services Workshop), Lower and Upper Hutt, Porirua, Paraparaumu, two operational bases in Waikanae and Wainuiomata and a response post on the Wellington Waterfront. Operationally the Service covers a population of 420,000 people, living in an area of 290 square kilometres (28990 hectares).

Q - Do you have rules/standards that you must abide by?

A - WFA has contracts with MoH and ACC that requires it to comply to rules/standards regarding service performance (such as response times etc). Additionally, Wellington Free Ambulance has a set of clinical practice guidelines, as well as a Clinical Governance Group that provides clinical governance to the organisation.

Q - Do you perform first aid cover at events?

A - As well as currently providing first aid cover to events held at the Westpac stadium and the Basin Reserve, WFA has recently launched a Event Medical Unit - TeamFree - to provide highly skilled, professional and friendly volunteer medics for events all over the Wellington region.

 

Funding

Q - How do you remain a free service when everyone else is charging?

A - It is only with the support of the Greater Wellington community that we can remain a free-to-the-patient ambulance service. It costs over $13 million each year to provide our services, with approximately 75% of the operational budget met by Government agencies. The balance is generated from sponsorship, Local Authority grants, trusts, donations, public appeals and the Service’s own resources. More information can be found here.

Q - How can I make a donation to WFA?

A - There are many different ways you can help support our Service - by making a donation, supporting us through our postal and street appeals, becoming a regular donor, organising a fundraising event or leaving us a bequest in your will. Every dollar counts and yours can make a difference.

Q - Can I claim part of my donation back in tax?

A - If you made financial donations to WFA during the last tax year, you can claim part of it back as a rebate. You can claim a rebate if you earned taxable income (such as salary or wages, benefit or self-employed income) during the year you're claiming for, were resident in New Zealand at any time during that tax year (including non-residents), are an individual (not a company, trust or partnership), and meet the criteria in the "Do you qualify for a rebate?" table shown here. Note that you will need to include your receipts with your claim. On 1 April 08 The Government announced that the 'donation cap' would be removed, meaning that you can make a donation for any amount up to the cost of your salary over $5 and can claim back a third of what you paid.

 

Paramedics

Q - Are our paramedics paid?

A - WFA currently employs 90 full-time paramedics, who are paid for working a 40+ hour week. Wellington Free Ambulance supplements this with over 40 volunteer paramedics, who work one 12-hour shift for the Service per week (usually in addition to their own full-time job). These volunteers play a crucial role in our Service - they help us achieve a full crewed ambulance more often, and they sacrifice their own time for the good of others. Without our volunteers, WFA would not be able to provide the high level of care that it is currently able to.For more information about our paramedics, click here.

Q - What kind of training is required to become a paramedic?

A - There are eight levels of paramedic training available - PHEC (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care), National Certificate in Ambulance , ICO, ICO - IV, ICO - Cardiac, ALS (Advanced Life Support)-A, ALS-B and ICP (Intensive Care Paramedic). Wellington Free Ambulance Service employs paramedics at the following entry levels:

Patient Transport Service staff are qualified with the Pre-hospital Emergency Care, Driving and Professional Practice Course (ethics, law, handling grief and managing stress, customer service). These staff do not routinely respond to emergency calls.

Ambulance Paramedics are employed with the National Certificate (Patient Care and Transport), which is a qualification, based on unit standards and lodged with the National Qualifications Framework through the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Similarly the paramedic may be a graduate of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Paramedic) degree.

Ambulance paramedics post employment complete the advanced life support – A [ALS-A] programme to become qualified to administer intravenous infusions and cardiac arrest drugs, and run an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest scene. After a further period of on-the-job experience paramedics qualify as advanced life support – B [ALS-B] officers. A small number of staff will go on to qualify as Intensive Care Paramedics who administer a range of resuscitation drugs and perform a range of patient care resuscitation skills. This qualification is at a post-graduate diploma level.

Q - How many paramedics are there in an ambulance?

A - Currently, our ambulances are double-crewed approximately 90% of the time. Even though this is one of the highest crewing levels in New Zealand, WFA sees double-crewing of all ambulances all the time as vital to providing a quality service - but a lack of Government funding prevents us from achieving this. WFA, as well as other ambulance services in New Zealand, are currently lobbying the Ministry of Health for increased funding for crewing levels.

Q - How fast is a paramedic allowed to drive?

A - When a paramedic is attending a Priority 1 emergency (meaning that the situation is 'immediately life-threatening & urgent'), the driver is allowed to engage the ambulance lights and sirens. When these lights and sirens are operating, the ambulance driver is then allowed to drive up to 30 kilometres over the posted speed limit. Paramedics undertake advanced driving courses in order to prepare them for this type of driving.

 

Ambulances

Q - What kind of ambulances do we have and why?

A - WFA currently maintains a fleet replacement project, where the previous Chevrolet Silverados models have been replaced with Mercedes Sprinter models. There are several benefits to the Mercedes Sprinter ambulance, including fuel economy (The Mercedes Sprinters are 2.9 litre diesel, which compared to our Chevy 6 litre petrol ambulances, substantially decreases operational costs), price (these vehicles cost almost a 1/3 less than the older Silverados), enhancements in the design of the rear compartment, after service sales potential and in country support. For more information about our current fleet, click here.

Q - Why are your ambulances painted yellow?

A - The Mercedes Sprinter ambulances were painted a bright yellow colour for two reasons - firstly to enhance the visibility of our ambulances (especially at night), as the reflective paint is easily spotted. The branding also helps to easily identify us from other large vehicles and from other ambulance services. In 2006 WFA won a 'Safety in the City' award from Wellington City Council in recognition of our new ambulance branding.

Q - Why does a fire crew sometimes turn up before the paramedics?

A - If a case is a suspected life-threatening emergency, and a fire crew is deemed to be closer to the case than an ambulance crew, then the Communication centre may dispatch this fire crew to the scene in addition to an ambulance. Fire crews have basic first aid training, as well as vital life saving equipment on board their fire engines, and their early assistance (such as CPR and providing of oxygen) can increase the chances of a positive patient outcome until the paramedics arrive.

 

Communications

Q - Do I have to dial an area code when dialling 111 from a cell phone?

A - No, just dial 111 – your calling location is automatically determined by the nearest cell phone tower to where you are situated.

Q - What number can I ring if I am unsure whether to ring 111?

A - WFA operates a non-emergency phone number – 0800 4 AMBULANCE (0800 4 26 285) – that you can ring if you are unsure whether your situation requires an ambulance.

Q - Why do 111 calls from the Wellington region sometimes get answered in Auckland or Christchurch?

A - There are currently three ambulance communication centres in New Zealand – one in Christchurch (which covers the South Island), one in Wellington (which covers the central North Island and is based in WFA HQ), and one in Auckland (which covers the upper North Island). If there is ever an ‘overload’ (meaning that the number of calls exceeds the number of Comms staff available to answer those calls) at one of these Comms Centres, then the call is diverted to another Comms Centre – this ensures that the call is answered promptly and efficiently.