St John new yellow ambulances rolled out over country

BREAKING NEWS: St John has just began to roll out new ambulances all over the country in a move to increase safety to staff, patients and public.

The new ambulances are newly designed and newly coloured so the ambulances are easily seen.

Green and Yellow go alongside the white St John logo on all ambulances, while the white ambulances get the push out.

"We had to think about this carefully, we didnt want people to think we had no ambulances while we changed them over, it will be a more rolling thing" a St John Spokesperson told infonews.co.nz

"The white ambulances will still be used but eventually they will be newly painted and the designs will be diffrent, so we will not have a lack of ambulances"

"In Taranaki for example they already have a yellow ambulance, but the new design adds to that" the spokesperson said.

Yellow vehicles are the most noticeable on the road, particularly in low light, St John Ambulance said in a statement.

Yellow is also the most visible colour for people with colour blindness which affects an estimated 1 in 12 or 8% of men and 1 in 200 or 0.5% of women, the organisation said.

Two St John ambulances have been painted in the shade of yellow tested in Europe as the most visible to the human eye.

The ambulances also have a new, bolder design and have been fitted with more reflective signage than that on the predominantly white vehicles. The distinctive green battenburg markings are also known to maximise the visibility of the vehicles.

"Finding ways to improve the quality and safety of our care and services is really important to St John and having our ambulances and other frontline vehicles yellow and with this new design, is one way we can make them safer and more visible on the road," said St John Operations Director Michael Brooke.

"We're expecting to see an improvement in the public noticing and giving way to St John vehicles as they travel to and from treating patients."

St John is committed to converting its fleet to yellow over the next 10 years, with around 40 new vehicles each year heading out on the road in the new yellow design, Mr Brooke said.

FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does St John do for New Zealand?

St John ambulances travel over 18 million kilometres a year and ambulance officers treat over 400,000 patients a year.

Doesn't Wellington already have yellow ambulances?

Yes Wellington has yellow ambulances, however the yellow ambulances are a Wellington Free group so Wellingtonians do not have to pay for ambulance support, so it has nothing to do with St John.

How much will this cost St John or the government?

There is no additional cost to St John to do this and the organisation is working with its partners and potential sponsors on that, St John have said.