The latest data from Hato Hone St John shows calls to the Rolleston ambulance station rose 55% from 2835 in 2020 to 4407 last year.
St John Mid Canterbury area operations manager Ian Rex said the rise reflects the Selwyn district’s growing population.
“Hato Hone St John is also seeing broader national trends, such as an ageing population, that are contributing to higher call volumes,” he said.
Nationally, St John callouts have more than doubled, increasing 110% from 35,219 in 2020 to 74,072 last year.
“Since 2020, we have reviewed and adjusted our ambulance resources to respond to these changing demand patterns in Rolleston and the wider Selwyn area,” he said.
“We are actively monitoring our emergency call volumes and response times to ensure we are meeting community needs, and will continue to consider further resource adjustments as demand evolves.”
Rex said Selwyn has nine emergency vehicles, including ambulances, rapid response units, and operations managers who work as a coordinated network.
In Rolleston, the top reasons people called for an ambulance last year were chest pain (584 incidents, up from 529 in 2024), referrals from health practitioners (578, up from 551), breathing problems (467, up from 385), falls (355, up from 322), and feeling generally or medically unwell (306, up from 292).
Leeston’s ambulance station saw a slight drop in callouts, from 770 in 2020 to 670 last year.
Breathing problems topped the list (96, up from 93), followed by health practitioner referrals (81, up from 73), chest pain (78, down from 92), feeling generally unwell (63, up from 56), and falls (49, down from 60).
Darfield’s numbers have remained largely steady, with 737 calls in 2020 and 724 last year.
The most common reasons were chest pain (91, up from 86), health practitioner referrals (85, down from 91), falls (61, up from 54), people unconscious or passing out (55, up from 41), and breathing problems (54, down from 61).
