A Dunedin man sustained a serious hip injury after falling out of a golf cart at the St Clair Golf Course yesterday.
A club spokeswoman, who did not want to be named, said a 66-year-old golfer was "in shock'' after he fell from the cart on the third hole.
The red Yamaha golf cart he fell from was privately owned, she said.
St John was called twice but failed to respond immediately, so a club staff member called firefighters at Lookout Point Station to lift the man from the course.
The firefighters used a Stokes basket to carry the man to Isadore Rd.
An ambulance arrived about 40 minutes after the first call, she said.
St John spokesman Ian Henderson said St John was called to the incident at 11.46am.
"From the information provided to our clinical control centre call taker, the incident was classified as a green call, so a non-emergency.
"Our ambulances were attending higher acuity life-threatening incidents. So it is true that an ambulance was not immediately available, however, one would be sent as soon as it was.''
A Fire Service spokeswoman said that firefighters from Lookout
Point Station had been called to the course at 12.12pm.
Mr Henderson said after the club called the fire station, the Fire Service communications centre contacted St John about the incident at 12.13pm.
"In the course of this communication, they passed on to us further information about the patient's injuries and condition, which we did not initially receive from the first call. As a result of this, the job was reclassified as a higher priority.''
An ambulance was assigned at 12.15pm, was on route by 12.19pm and arrived at the patient at 12.28pm.
The man was taken by ambulance to the Dunedin Hospital Emergency Department in a serious condition, he said.
