Milton is not taking the potential loss of its only paid paramedic lightly.
A petition to retain the role will be launched today following a nationwide proposal by St John to ensure all emergency road ambulance callouts are double-crewed with professional paramedics by 2021.
While intended to boost services, the move would mean Milton’s sole paid paramedic being shifted to Balclutha.
Fears are growing about the proposal amid concerns additional pressure would be placed on less experienced volunteers.
Milton Medical Centre senior doctor Jane Gardner said the proposal was "outrageous".
It would result in worse health outcomes for local people because it would take longer for a St John response in an emergency, essential medical skills would be lost and the loss of local knowledge factor was a major issue, she said.
"Malcolm [Flett, Milton St John station officer] knows very quickly if there is an emergency and many times has been on site to resuscitate a critical patient."
There had been numerous times when he and local doctors had worked together with successful outcomes, and the loss of his skills and a St John permanent presence would also make attracting new doctors to the area even more difficult.
"We barely coped through the Covid thing. This will be the last straw."
She had had an "unsatisfactory" meeting with St John yesterday, and encouraged the community to speak up.
"It’s simple — volunteers do not have his expertise."
Milton Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Robbie Philip was concerned about the flow-on effects for the town’s firefighters.
Firefighters already respond initially to medical calls when ambulances are busy or delayed, and he was concerned that workload could increase significantly if there was no longer a paramedic in town.
"There’s huge concern if it would increase our workload, but the bigger concern is for the general people of the Milton area," he said.
Those people could be at increased risk in the event of a medical emergency, he believed.
It could also hit local businesses, which already supported volunteers leaving work at short notice to attend callouts.
Responses would be slower if ambulances had to come from Balclutha, he said.
"They’ve never been under 20 minutes."
His criticism followed concerns from Mr Flett, who this week told the Otago Daily Times double-crewing in South Otago would leave services overcentralised in Balclutha.
A petition to retain the role in Milton is being launched today by a group of concerned residents.
One of them was Crichton farmer and former Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead, who said there had been significant feedback from the community about the proposal since it was highlighted in the ODT on Wednesday.
He hoped St John was prepared to engage with the feedback.
St John rural Otago territory manager David Milne said the consultation was part of a four-year project to eliminate the single-crewing of emergency ambulances.
Now in its fourth year, it had already improved clinical outcomes for patients across the country by ensuring patients had an ambulance clinician with them on the way to hospital, he said.
"The project has also improved the safety and wellbeing of our staff, by helping to reduce fatigue, manual handling injuries and risk associated with lone working."
To ensure a timely response in Milton, it had proposed establishing a volunteer-led first response unit there.
"We remain in consultation with our people, and will be able to confirm any change in the coming weeks once we have considered their feedback.
"St John remains committed to providing a timely response to medical emergencies in Milton and the wider Clutha area."
The Milton issue comes after lobbying earlier in the year by Waimate residents to get extra paid staff following concerns its ambulance service was on the line.
That lobbying resulted in new staff members being hired.
