The Omarama co-response medical unit is now being called out to more medical emergencies, after concerns it was being left out of the loop, which could lead to a loss of life.
The unit, funded by the community through donations, grants and findraising, provides emergency care until an ambulance arrives at medical emergencies and crashes, which could take an hour or more.
But one of the unit's members, Bruce Dyson, was worried the unit, while being called to crashes, was not being called out to all medical emergencies.
He was aware of three medical emergencies before Christmas the co-response unit was not called to by St John dispatch.
However, St John was aware of the situation which, North Otago territory manager Ken Barton said, was due to changes made to its computerised dispatch system and Fire Service changes.
When an emergency 111 call was received, the call-taker fed information into the computerised system which then gave options for appropriate resources to be notified.
Those issues had been resolved, but they would continue to be monitored.
Omarama and Otematata (which also has a co-response unit) fire chiefs had been encouraged to communicate directly with St John over any issues and problems, Mr Barton said.
Mr Dyson, when contacted yesterday, also said the call-out issue had improved dramatically, and he was not aware of any medical emergency the co-response unit had not been called to since Christmas.
''We've been told by St John they have worked through and resolved the problem,'' Mr Dyson said, although he was not totally aware of the technical issues.
The co-response unit, like that at Otematata, is provided by community fund-raising. Omarama has six members trained and qualified, at the community's's cost, to pre-hospital health level.
It has a dedicated vehicle and equipment, to provide care until an ambulance or other medical staff arrive.
While an notice sent to Omarama Gazette recipients urged anyone phoning 111 to ensure the Omarama co-response unit was notified, Mr Barton said people should still ask for an ambulance for medical emergencies, to ensure there was no confusion.
