St John is defending its decision not to deploy a rescue helicopter to help a German tourist as she clung to a windswept ledge high above the sea near Dunedin.
In the wake of the rescue at Tunnel Beach last week, the Department of Conservation says it is installing new signs and fencing, and is urging people not to walk on to the headland at the increasingly popular tourist hotspot.
On Thursday, Johanna Langner slipped on wet grass, fell down a rock face, broke her leg, and stopped her slide just in time to prevent a potentially fatal fall to the ocean.
The 25-year-old Bavarian was comforted and provided emergency first aid on the ledge by a St John paramedic, before being rescued by firefighters using ropes and a Stokes basket.
It is understood St John staff on the ground pleaded for an Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter to be deployed to rescue Ms Langner, but their requests were refused by the St John air desk in Auckland, the national co-ordination and dispatch centre for air ambulance services.
The dispatch service was centralised last year as part of a two-year trial.
In an emailed statement, St John coastal Otago territory manager Doug Third said the criteria for dispatching a rescue helicopter included the location of the patient, whether the job was time sensitive and the resources available at the scene.
"On this occasion, based on information provided to the air desk from the scene, it was determined a helicopter was not the right response for the conditions.
"Once we had accurate patient location details, it was determined that the best course of action was for Fire and Emergency New Zealand and ambulance officers to carry the patient up the track to a waiting ambulance.''
Doc senior ranger Mike Morrison said about 100,000 people visited Tunnel Beach between July 2017 and June 2018, a marked increase on previous years.
In August, Doc began reviewing how to manage the increase in ``unprepared and inexperienced'' visitors to Tunnel Beach, he said.
"As a result, Doc is installing improved warning signage at the entrance to the walking track, extending the existing headland barrier to include all walking routes prior to reaching the headland and installing more warning signs on the barrier.''
The work was due to be completed by Christmas.
At present, Doc was warning visitors to the beach not to walk on to the headland because of the risk of falling from the high cliffs, compounded by the area's exposure to high winds and the slippery conditions when wet, he said.
Related Stories
Comments
100,000 people visited Tunnel Beach last year! That's the news item.
Same with the 111 service Since it has been centralised operators sometimes have no idea where places are and that takes extra time. Also with similar or even the same names of more than one place errors occur
In the old days when local operators took the call they could help a lot quicker as they knew the area even to the extent of knowing peoples names to contact to help.
Maybe centralization is cheaper but is definitely not better