Wanaka St John will have six paramedics on duty tonight to respond to any call-outs and provide emergency medical care.
No additional first-aid staff are available to help cover staff rosters in a bid to cope with the influx of visitors to Wanaka during the busy New Year period.
The swollen resort numbers, estimated to more than double the usual Upper Clutha residential population of about 8000, will have three paramedic crews of two people each to respond to any medical emergencies.
Two crews will be based in Wanaka, where a crowd of about 5000 is expected for the lakefront celebrations, while the remaining emergency response team will be in Lake Hawea for tonight's New Year's Eve concert, which is expected to attract about 1500 people.
In comparison, police numbers have been increased by about 60 officers, brought in to patrol and respond to any disorder or accidents in the Wanaka area.
Long-serving Wanaka St John paramedic Don MacMillan said they had not applied for additional first-aid staff this year because previous requests to cover holiday demands had not been successful.
Funding for additional paid paramedic staff was usually a ''reactive'' rather than proactive measure, he said.
Wanaka St John medical crews were largely manned by volunteers, who worked 12-hour shifts, from 6am until 6pm and vice-versa, Upper Clutha station manager Barbara Roxburgh said.
However, during holiday periods those volunteers often wanted to take holidays themselves.
''It's not like you can ask a volunteer to give up their holidays. That's certainly not what we would ever expect them to do either,'' she said.
Events held during the busy New Year period also placed a demand on staffing rosters, she said.
First-aid crews provided medical assistance for crowded events, such as concerts and the Wanaka rodeo, while also assisting and providing medical supplies to packed camping grounds around the district, she said.
''We can struggle to have two-person crews and are sometimes reduced to having a single person driving an ambulance. It's not ideal ... We try not to let that happen at this time of the year,'' she said.
If a patient has to be transported by ambulance to Dunstan Hospital by a single-person crew, then there was sometimes no-one available to reply to medical emergencies in the district.
''That is the reality of what happens in a remote area,'' she said.
Staffing resources were stretched so much ''last-minute'' requests from event organisers for first-aid ambulance crews could not be met, Ms Roxburgh said.
Mr MacMillan said it was tough to find extra staff to assist with shift requirements during the holidays.
He urged New Year's Eve revellers to look after themselves tonight.
However, ''if they do get into trouble then they can call us. We'll be ready to go with an ambulance to help them,'' he said.
