Three officers from Queenstown and one from Dunedin return to duty in two weeks, taking the Frankton station's complement up to a dozen fully qualified staff.
"They are back for another season, which is great from our point of view because they know the job," St John Queenstown operations team manager Alana Reid said yesterday.
"We're geared up for the start of the ski season on June 5 and we run through to about October 10."
St John's winter readiness would be extended by a week this year because the Remarkables ski area intended staying open for the end of school holidays, she said.
All officers will reacquaint themselves with driving 4WD ambulances, putting chains on wheels and driving in winter conditions.
An in-house, half-day course will be held on rugged private land before Coronet Peak's scheduled opening on June 5.
Ms Reid said St John officers would also meet skifield health-care staff to fully understand what each party does in an emergency.
"When there's a ski person injured, there's the ski patrol and medical staff on the mountain and then there's us and the staff at the Queenstown Medical Centre and the Lakes District Hospital.
"There's a whole set of hands to go through and we want to ensure good patient outcomes."
Ms Reid said the team was expecting to treat injuries to the lower back, lower limb, wrist and elbow, plus the occasional head trauma.
St John Queenstown treated and transferred 1050 patients between June and October last year.
However, the team was expecting a slight increase this season.
NZSki did much to reduce the risk of injury, but with more people on the mountains, more accidents could happen, Ms Reid said.
The busiest months are traditionally July and August, when the snow season peaks and the school holidays take place.
"We expect to do about half our [annual] work in that June to October period. It's roughly a third directly from the mountains and a third transporting people from Lakes District Hospital to Dunedin or Invercargill," Ms Reid said.
