Taieri fire brigades may respond differently to medical emergencies under a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) being developed between the Fire Service and St John.
Fire brigades throughout the country have been called to an increasing number of non-fire emergencies, particularly in rural areas, which has prompted a review of the 2005 memorandum.
Fire Service assistant national commander Brian Butt said the aim of a new agreement was to make the best use of resources for the benefit of patients and to make the medical response of fire brigades more nationally consistent.
''Last year St John introduced new response protocols for their service focused on getting to genuine, high-acuity patients faster and offering alternative pathways to care for low-acuity patients.
''This included identifying urgent or time-critical events where they are likely to need the assistance of firefighters,'' he said.
''These new response protocols have since been refined to better reflect firefighters' equipment and level of first aid training.
''The change to St John's response protocols has provided an opportunity for the two services to review their 2005 MOU.''
The Mosgiel, Outram, Brighton and Middlemarch brigades will be subject to the new agreement, as will other fire crews throughout Otago.
Fire chiefs expected to know more about the new memorandum by the end of the year, and in the meantime existing protocols for responding to medical emergencies would remain.
''Some brigades have become heavily committed to medical responses within their communities, while others have little involvement. The intent is to provide a clearer and more consistent support response system within all communities,'' Mr Butt said.
Representatives of volunteer and career firefighters throughout the country were being consulted about the changes and the new agreement, he said.
''This has revealed some brigades who want to continue to co-respond with ambulance to some lesser-priority medical incidents.''
