In an incident last weekend a 17-year-old girl with a moderate injury was flown to Dunedin Hospital after waiting two hours because no ambulance was available.
The girl was injured during a rugby match in Balclutha on Sunday.
Off-duty paramedics watching the game came to her aid immediately, but a local ambulance was unavailable at the time because the only volunteers on duty were dealing with a person with a life-threatening condition.
In early August a woman who had fallen from a scooter was taken by police to Clutha Health First because there were not enough volunteers available to operate an ambulance.
St John Rural Otago territory manager Ken Barton said responses were prioritised according to the seriousness of an incident.
The correct procedure was followed on Sunday, given the circumstances.
The off-duty paramedic was in constant contact with a St John clinical adviser providing updates on the girl’s condition.
It was determined the girl did not have life-threatening injuries, but after "some time", understood to be two hours, she was still in need of medical assistance.
The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter was dispatched as an ambulance was still not available.
Mr Barton defended the wait time and said it was standard practice in non-life threatening situations to wait for the first available ambulance while bystanders or aides regularly contacted St John to update it on the patient’s condition.
Mr Barton said there were still "volunteer challenges" in rural areas but said the public could have full confidence in St John to provide the right care at the right time.
Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan was at the scene and commended the volunteers for their work.
Balclutha St John station manager Stuart Holgate said the Balclutha volunteer service was particularly "stretched" during weekends, because it covered towns such as Owaka and Clinton.
Also, several volunteers
were unavailable during weekends due to work or other commitments.
"[Getting more volunteers] would certainly help and give us more flexibility," he said.
He said four people made inquiries to St John in Balclutha about volunteering following a recent article about the shortages in the Otago Daily Times.
It would take between five and nine additional volunteers for the station to be able to provide an additional volunteer-operated ambulance.
There were 15 volunteers registered with the Balclutha service.
Those interested would have to go through a certification process which included medical training, police background checks and fitness tests.
