Kapiti Emergency Medical Service

 
Our Mission

To enhance the pre-hospital care of trauma and medical patients within the Kapiti region with respect to area's relative geographical isolation from base hospital facilities. EMS works alongside Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA) to provide the best possible current and advanced pre-hospital medical care to serious or life-threatening cases of illness or injury to diminish patient morbidity and mortality and improve patient outcome.

 
About us

• The EMS was conceived as a joint venture with WFA in 1990, after its personnel had been working with WFA attending life-threatening incidents in the region over the previous two years.
• The EMS is a rapid response unit that combines the skills and experience of both doctors and paramedics, recognising the benefit of both professions working together for the patients benefit.
• The EMS doctors specialize in pre-hospital emergency medical and trauma care.
• The EMS paramedics are Intensive Care (ALS) paramedics who also work for WFA.
• The EMS have attended several thousand incidents to date
• The EMS Trust provides rapid response vehicles for the EMS Team to allow rapid location at the scene of injury or illness.
• The EMS covers a region that has a population of over 50,000 people and encompasses Centennial Highway which currently is one of the statistically worst roads in New Zealand for severe trauma and death from motor vehicle accidents. Over 25,000 vehicles pass along this two-lane highway per day and in 2004 eight people died on this stretch of road and many more were critically injured. There have been 38 fatalities in 20 years along a 10km stretch of road that includes Centennial Highway. Two to three times this number have been critically injured. The EMS has been active at lobbying Transit New Zealand to install a median barrier along the length of this notorious highway.
• The EMS provide time critical aggressive advanced pre-hospital care in order to resuscitate and stabilize the critically ill patient at the scene and during the transport phase of the patients treatment, without delaying transport to hospital facilities.
• The EMS aim to provide the best possible patient care in accordance with current regional, national and international standards of pre-hospital care.
• The EMS is dispatched by the Emergency Ambulance Communication Centre -(Central Comms) at the same time as a frontline emergency ambulance response, or following request from WFA for assistance with patient care after an ambulance has located at an incident.
• The EMS Trust is a non profit charitable trust, and EMS Team-members work voluntarily.
   

Recognition

• The EMS wish to recognise the support and assistance given by the services it works alongside - including the Fire Service, Westpac Rescue Helicopter, the NZ Police and our colleagues in WFA.
• The EMS also expresses its appreciation to the past Trustees and Team members who have given passionately and freely of their time to serve the community of the Kapiti Coast.