The Balclutha St John ambulance service is calling for more volunteers as pressure mounts during weekend shifts.
Balclutha St John station manager Stuart Holgate said it was particularly difficult to manage the district during weekends because of the lack of volunteers.
A car crash last week highlighted the problem when a woman had to be taken to hospital in a police vehicle after falling from her scooter when it and a car collided, he said.
One ambulance from Balclutha was returning from Dunedin at the time and not enough people were available to man the remaining ambulance.
It only took two people to operate the ambulance, but most of the rostered volunteers could not attend the scene or get there on time.
''Quite a few of our volunteers don't live in Balclutha ... so there's not that many available in Balclutha itself,'' Mr Holgate said.
In normal circumstances when the Balclutha station could not respond, the nearest station was called instead.
But that day people in the nearest volunteer station, in Milton, were out on another call.
Mr Holgate said the Fire Service was called to the scene instead.
About 17 people from the wider Clutha District and Dunedin were on the Balclutha volunteer roster. However, many had other commitments and were not able to attend every emergency situation.
Training and certification involved medical training, police background checks, fitness tests and interviews.
Mr Holgate urged anyone who was of decent fitness, had spare time and thought they would be able to help out at St John to call the Balclutha branch for more information.
