About Us

Hosted by Chief Executive Mike Grant, he commended the staff for their commitment to continuous care through what has been an unexpected and extraordinary year.

Mike addressed friends and supporters present, and explained the importance of being well-equipped and ready to respond no matter what the circumstances. 

“Responding to COVID-19 we stood together as an organisation and a community; ensuring the best outcomes for our patients and our staff by being flexible, responsive and adaptive to change. The learnings we made together were inspiring, witnessing resilience at its finest,” Mike said.

He went on to explain how the service had to navigate a new normal and how the increased need for staff engagement helped the service gain valuable and robust insights into the impacts of COVID-19, both professionally and personally.

The refreshed organisational values – Be authentic, original, true; Act with kindness; Lead by example; Keep getting better together – were also a focus.

“Our organisational values represent who we are, where we’re going and who we’re taking with us. These values strengthen our behaviours and culture to better meet the changing environment and the needs of our communities,” Mike added.

Healthcare Services Executive Director Kate Worthington spoke to the Wellington Free Ambulance Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report.

“After signing up to the Global Resuscitation Alliance in 2016, our commitment has been to see our survival rates increase.

“Since last year, and the introduction of High Performance CPR, our survival rates have gone from 12 percent to 19 percent; internationally those results are statistically significant, making the Wellington Free Ambulance region the second highest ranked in the world when it comes to cardiac arrest survival rates.”

Kate made a special thank you to the Lloyd Morrison Foundation for their continued support, especially with Heartbeat, which continues to enable us to provide free community CPR training across Wellington and Wairarapa.

Relationship and Development Manager Vanessa Simpson touched on the Wellington Free Ambulance Wairarapa Pop-Up from last November.

“The Pop-Up was a wonderful opportunity to experience different perspectives, knowledge and expertise and collectively focus on how ambulance services can better support patient outcomes in Wairarapa,” she said.

Board chair Dame Kerry Prendergast voiced her thanks to Wellington Free Ambulance’s loyal and steadfast supporters and community for their support during an unprecedented time of change and uncertainty.

“Support has been exceptional this year; particularly with our digital Onesie Day Annual Appeal. This saw our supporters be creative and fundraise their own way to raise an incredible $122,000,” Kerry said.

Key statistics from this year's Annual Report include achievements and highlights for the year, our Integrated Reporting approach, as well as some of our projects and initiatives we’ve embarked on.

You can also see the other ways Wellington Free serves our community and real life stories of the people they have helped.

Download the Wellington Free Ambulance Annual Report 2019/2020.