St John operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We use ambulances, four-wheel drive vehicles, rapid response units, motorcycles and other specialist vehicles to ensure we can reach people at any hour of the day in almost any terrain, weather or situation.
In New Zealand, the St John Ambulance Service attends nearly 400,000 emergency incidents and treats and transports over 460,000 people every year. We have more than 1,000 operational vehicles and 206 ambulance stations. St John provides emergency ambulance services to nearly 90% of New Zealanders. The only areas where we do not provide emergency ambulance services are Wairarapa and Wellington although we provide other services there - St John First Aid Training, St John Medical Alarms, Event Health Services and Youth programmes.
As well as responding to emergencies, St John also transports patients for arranged hospital admissions to hospital outpatient clinics and transfers patients between hospitals or from hospital to home. Hato Hone St John also works closely alongside Police and Fire and Emergency services by providing medical cover in emergency situations.
Frontline ambulance officers are one of the most trusted professions in New Zealand. Our officers are on hand to treat and care for patients when they are at their most vulnerable. We are the emergency arm of the health system, often the first on the scene providing vital emergency and out-of-hospital care to a high professional standard. Our clinical training is constantly being reviewed and aligned to national and international best practice. Some elements of our practice also include primary health care so we can ensure the right clinical care is carried out for certain health presentations.
Every single day is different, challenging and incredibly rewarding. This is a career where everything we do matters, making a difference to patients and their families.
As an ambulance officer at Hato Hone St John we’ll give you the support you need, while also helping you to gain industry-recognised qualifications and skills as you progress or if you already have the qualifications we’ll provide the experience to develop your career. We put a huge focus on clinical standards and developing highly-trained, effective, caring ambulance officers. Could that be you?
Ambulance personnel cannot legally supply or administer prescription medicines to patients on their own accord and therefore an Authority to Practise (ATP) is issued by Hato Hone St John’s Clinical Director to allow them to practice under the Clinical Director’s standing order. Depending on your ATP level (as described below) you have differing levels of clinical ability and these our outlined in our comprehensive Clinical Practice Guidelines.
Hato Hone St John has five clinical practice levels:
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We have a range of exciting volunteer and career opportunities across New Zealand.