Rural ambulances off to help in Fiji crisis

Four emergency vehicles from the Queenstown Lakes District are being shipped more than 2000km to Fiji as the country deals with spiralling Covid-19 cases.

About 11,000 cases have been confirmed in the Pacific nation since the latest outbreak in April, including 58 deaths, as of last night.

St John New Zealand is sending the Toyota four-wheel-drive Land Cruisers, two from Queenstown and one each from Glenorchy and Wanaka, on the five-day journey from Auckland to Fiji.

It will also send lifesaving clinical equipment in response to a call for aid from St John Fiji to its international ambulance counterparts.

The vehicles, which are equipped with stretchers, will allow St John Fiji ambulance officers to navigate the island nation’s mountainous terrain to quickly locate, treat, and transport patients.

St John National Operations Manager James Stewart said the vehicles were typically used in winter conditions in the Queenstown and Wanaka area and were regularly used on skifields.

The vehicles were being replaced in Otago with 4Motion all-wheel-drive Volkswagen first response units — otherwise known as rural ambulances.

Two of the vehicles already in Auckland had been hot-swapped with the replacements as they were in-service ambulances, he said.

St John deputy chief executive, ambulance operations Dan Ohs said it was also giving personal protective equipment (PPE) including 2000 gowns and masks, seven Lifepak defibrillators, warm clothing including fleece jackets and beanies for Fijian ambulance officers, and financial assistance to cover the cost of oxygen cylinders.

‘‘We’re in the business of helping people in need, and our brothers and sisters in Fiji need our support right now, so it is our duty to help them however we can.

‘‘We have a strong connection with St John across the globe, and with Fiji being one of our closest Pacific neighbours, we are pleased to be in a position to provide some assistance.’’

St John would continue to monitor the situation in Fiji and would be prepared to provide further assistance if needed.

The equipment and vehicles would be sent to Fiji in two shipments, the first aboard a ferry from Auckland on Friday, arriving on Wednesday next week. The remaining two vehicles and equipment would then be shipped next week.

Work to get the vehicles from Otago to Auckland had been swift and support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade allowed timely shipping.

jared.morgan@odt.co.nz