Specialist paramedics who police and firefighters rely on shut down

Teams of specialist paramedics who backed police at the 2019 mosque attacks and would back firefighters in Auckland's rail tunnels are being shut down.

RNZ has seen an email from St John ambulance that said the teams would shut down before Christmas due to lack of funding.

Health NZ turned down a request for funding this year from the charitable organisation.

"As discussed last week, Hato Hone St John will cease operating its Specialist Emergency Response Team (SERT) at the end of 20 December 2026," said the ambulance service email.

Firefighters said the shutdown would expose them and the public to more risk.

St John has three SERT teams, in Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch.

Its email to Fire and Emergency (FENZ) on Tuesday said the teams had no dedicated funding and St John's search for a more sustainable model had not worked.

"Given wider ambulance sector pressures ... new investment should currently be prioritised towards core emergency ambulance services, infrastructure and day-to-day operating costs."

St John was repeatedly approached for comment on Wednesday. It said it was unlikely to be able to respond or provide an interview ahead of the publication deadline on Thursday morning.

Health NZ late on Wednesday told RNZ, "While funding for SERT services was raised by Hato Hone St John, as this is not a service we have previously commissioned or worked with ambulance service providers to consider in detail, we did not progress the request for funding in the 2026/27 financial year."

Police late on Wednesday said, "We were advised of this decision directly by Hato Hone St John. Managing their resources is a matter for their organisation."

'That takes time'

Firefighter and Auckland Professional Firefighters' Union president Josh Nicholls led the work on developing FENZ responses to emergencies in the City Rail Link (CRL) tunnels.

The response called for SERT to back up firefighters but after 20 December that wouldn't be available.

"What it means is that a highly trained medic that may have been at the sharp end of the stick may not be able to operate in that area of operations and that the people may have to be taken back to ... a staging sector or a forward operating sector," said Nicholls.

"And that takes time, right?"

That raised the risks for the public but also for firefighters were they injured, he said.

Auckland's SERT had about nine members. They're trained with breathing apparatus for gas-filled areas and to abseil down with cliff rescue firefighters.

"There are multiple different environments that SERT's provided capability over for us," said Nicholls.

"Rope rescue operations has been a big one ... you know, we've had medics being able to descend over the edge. Now we're going to have to look at how we test and adjust to being able to provide medical intervention in some of these austere environments in a timely manner."

Supporting armed offenders' squad

SERT paramedics went to the scene of the mosque shooting in Linwood Avenue, Christchurch, in the March 2019 terrorist attacks.

They trained with the police armed offenders' squad.

Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said they valued the relationship with St John highly and appreciated the support "they continue provide to our staff and the public".

"Our role continues to be to make sure our staff are safe and we will continue to do this. We have a strong ongoing working relationship with all emergency services."

The St John email RNZ has seen said ambulance would continue to support police at high-risk incidents using an established mode called 'Safe Forward Point '.

Nicholls' colleague Martin Campbell, national union vice president, said that could put paramedics further away from injured people than SERT paramedics could get.

'Very short notice'

RNZ asked both Campbell and Nicholls if the CRL emergency response plan would have to be changed due to the shutdown.

"It is unfortunate," said Campbell.

"It seems to have been a very short notice and it doesn't give Fire and Emergency that much [time] to potentially change our standard operating procedures and not only change them, but then train to those new procedures to make sure everybody is aware of it - and to make sure that they will still work properly."

Nicholls said "that's not going to stop us doing our job".

"I don't know what it looks like," he added to RNZ on Wednesday.

"I mean, this is news that's only just come to light. We haven't been consulted. It needs a deeper dive around what the inherent impacts are going to be for our members and how we operate."

It was not up to them but up to FENZ, police and ambulance to find solutions to fix the capability gap, but given the late notice that this was even happening he was not confident they would, he said.

'Nobody has lost a job'

Ambulance Association national secretary Mark Quin said it had been aware St John was in a dilemma.

"Certainly, it's replicated around the world, that sort of medical response, but the police weren't willing to come forward and provide any funding for it, as I'm told, and neither was Health New Zealand," said Quin.

"So that left Hone Hone St John in a bit of a dilemma, that they have these positions that have not been funded for. And as we know today, that things are tight in health and budgets, and they've made that decision."

Police did not directly respond on whether they'd been asked to help fund SERT.

The SERT paramedics still had their regular-crew jobs.

"So I'm pleased that nobody has lost a job over it. And I think meetings have happened this week where they're going to be redeployed to new rosters," said Quin.

The St John email said its other specialist hazardous substances (Hazmat) and urban search and rescue (USAR) backup would continue.

But for SERT, Nicholls said the capability his crews had helped build among paramedics for years to respond to "low frequency-high consequence" emergencies risked being lost.

"We need to genuinely ask ourselves, are we funding and delivering an emergency response capability that New Zealanders deserve in their time of need?"

'Ambulance services remain available'

Health New Zealand which with ACC funded a lot of St John said it was focused on its contracted emergency road ambulance and communications services.

Acting director of community and primary care funding Martin Hefford said in a statement SERT had been provided outside those contracted services.

"It's important to note that when people require medical care following a rescue, emergency ambulance services remain available.

"In many cases, patients who need transport to hospital will require a road ambulance or air ambulance response regardless of whether a SERT paramedic is involved in the rescue operation," said Hefford.