A group wishing to retain the town’s paramedic had expected to hand over a 3500-strong petition supporting its cause to senior St John representatives at lunchtime today, but learnt yesterday no-one would be available to receive it.
The town’s sole paid paramedic is under threat as a result of St John’s national "double-crewing" programme.
The programme aims to double-crew all ambulances nationally by 2021, but in South Otago that would mean Milton’s paramedic redeploying to Balclutha.
Among those behind the petition is Crichton farmer and former Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead.
Mr Woodhead said a delegation had met senior St John representatives overseeing the double-crewing initiative on Friday, and received an assurance they would accept the petition in person today.
He said that duty had now been passed to Milton St John chairwoman Marie Smith, placing her in an "invidious" position, as she held no responsibility for the proposed controversial changes.
"We regard this as very poor behaviour from St John. That they can’t find a senior representative to receive this massive groundswell of a message from local people is staggering.
"It looks like they simply do not want to front up to the community," he said.
The petition, which had 3589 signatures at its Tuesday conclusion, arose after residents worried the proposal to centralise paramedics in Balclutha could leave patients at unnecessary risk.
As momentum grew on Friday, local medics and firefighters added their voice to calls for St John to reconsider.
Although critical of St John’s failure to front up, Mr Woodhead said supporters remained open to dialogue.
"We’re sincere in wanting to work constructively with St John to find a solution that satisfies all."
A St John spokesman said a parallel public submission process on the changes ended at midnight on Tuesday.
"We now need to go through that feedback. We have not come to any decision yet and will have more to share once [that] has been made."
