Emergency medical services in New Zealand are operated by two major organisations. In each case, the service consists of both volunteers and paid staff, and is subsidised by the government of New Zealand in many cases. Additional funding occurs by means of some billing for services to either government or health care agencies, or to individuals, as well as by means of voluntary donations. In recent years, the government has begun to examine more ...
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Emergency medical services in New Zealand are operated by two major organisations. In each case, the service consists of both volunteers and paid staff, and is subsidised by the government of New Zealand in many cases. Additional funding occurs by means of some billing for services to either government or health care agencies, or to individuals, as well as by means of voluntary donations. In recent years, the government has begun to examine more sustainable funding for ambulance services. Both services St John Ambulance in New Zealand and Wellington Free Ambulance have a long history of service to their communities, with the latter providing services since the 1920s and the former providing services since 1885.
While both land ambulance service providers do have paid staff, they also rely very heavily on volunteer members to supplement paid staff. In most cases, paid staff tend to be concentrated in urban areas and in the management of rural areas, with rural response staff being...
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