Only police can authorise an air ambulance under current rules. File photo. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust
The career firefighters' union says a delay getting rescuers to Hahei where a girl was trapped on a cliff face is just the tip of the iceberg.
In January, police refused Fire and Emergency (FENZ) a helicopter to get a lines rescue team from Hamilton to Hahei on the far side of Coromandel Peninsula. They had to drive.
Police told RNZ they mistakenly concluded the girl was dead and that it was appropriate to send rescuers by road, not air.
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union vice president Martin Campbell told Midday Report the problems ran wider than just the Hahei case.
"I don't think it is an isolated incident... I think it's just the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately."
"I certainly know from personal experience being based at Auckland City where there is another lines rescue crew, we have faced delays in our ability to get to rescue incidents."
A law change was needed, and police and FENZ needed to agree on a better approach in the interim, he said.
The FENZ call log from the Hahei rescue stated "police wont [sic] approve helo response because of the cost".
"This is the first I've actually specifically seen cost mentioned," Campbell said. "Other issues I have seen [are] interagency squabbles as to who is actually in charge and who has the authority."
Comment has been requested from police and Police Minister Mark Mitchell.
Emails among senior FENZ personnel immediately after the Hahei rescue referred to it as a "further instance" of line rescue crews being delayed due to police not approving an air ambulance helicopter.
St John must get police approval to send a chopper to a non-injury emergency.
FENZ national manager of response capability Ken Cooper in response to Campbell told RNZ on Thursday their standard operating procedure after a 111 call for rescue was to pass all information immediately on to police as the lead agency, who then coordinated the rescue.
"It is also our practice to dispatch our resources immediately to the incident to assist," Cooper said in a statement.
"There are no communication challenges between our agencies, and we work well together."
The Hahei FENZ email trail showed Cooper was alerted on the Monday following the Saturday midnight rescue, and briefly replied that he would "prioritise a meeting with the relevant partner agencies this week with the intent on resolving the matter".
RNZ has lodged Official Information Act requests with police and FENZ to find out more.
Hato Hone St John ran the air ambulance service under a contract with Health New Zealand. It said in cases where a person was not injured but required rescue, coordination and tasking was done by either of the country's two recognised search and rescue coordinating authorities - police or the Rescue Coordination Centre.
"The coordination of search and rescue operations requires specialist expertise to ensure both the person in need of rescue, and their rescuers are as safe as possible," it said.
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