St John has admitted major failings in the handling of a 111 call last year.
SouthComm communications centre manager Alan Goudge, of Christchurch, said up to 30 minutes could have been lost through poor management of the call.
Otago Daily Times editorial manager Philip Somerville was lying on a remote Wanaka beach on June 14, wet and cold, with serious pelvic injuries, and it took one hour 40 minutes for the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter to arrive.
The delays, as it transpired, were not crucial, because his internal bleeding was limited.
But they could have been fatal in other circumstances.
Mr Somerville made inquiries last year with St John and police about the time it took to activate the rescue helicopter after he was injured when crushed by a boat in the shallows of Lake Wanaka.
St John responded with a transcript of the initial 111 call and with an apology saying. - The time taken to locate Mr Somerville's position was too long, despite having systems for quick and easy location.
Potential injuries were not correctly assessed.
Some key questions and instructions were not carried out.
Additionally, the co-ordination and management of the St John response was "impaired by inadequate communication between the two emergency services involved" (ambulance and police), and the management of the emergency response was not reviewed as it usually was when problems arose.
The transcript reveals the 111 mobile phone conversation from ODT illustrations editor Stephen Jaquiery, who was with Mr Somerville on the beach, to St John was 12 minutes long.
During a subsequent five-minute call to police and over the seven minutes waiting for police to call back, St John did not take steps to prepare for a helicopter rescue.
Because the accident was off-road, police permission was required for a helicopter to be sent.
After another five minutes, the rescue helicopter from Dunedin, with two paramedics, was assigned (a helicopter from Queenstown could have been an option).
One of the paramedics was picked up from Kitchener St in Dunedin and the helicopter then, with head winds, took 55 minutes to fly to the beach, which is about halfway between the outlets of the Matukituki River and the Minaret Burn.
Police Southern Communications Centre operations manager Insp Bryan Buck said that, although St John officially had to wait for police clearance before dispatching helicopters, in practice St John could make all the preparations and be ready to fly in advance of that authority being given.
However, Mr Goudge said St John had instructions from police that St John rescue services were not to be activated without clearance.
This had been emphasised particularly for the Te Anau, Wanaka and Queenstown areas.
Time could also have been saved with compatible computer systems and a project is under way for immediate electronic transfer of information between services.
Mr Goudge said Mr Somerville's case was an exception to the usual high standard.
Cases were regularly reviewed with other emergency services to see what lessons could be learned, and Mr Somerville's was subject to scrutiny in Dunedin last month following his inquiries.
The call taker in question, who was a trainee, is no longer working for St John.
St John had learned lessons around the training and support of trainees, with the call taker's failings being the "primary reason for delays".
St John was also trying to work through the co-ordination issues with police.
