New Zealand Legislation: Regulations

6 Emergency transport costs

• (1) The Corporation is liable to pay, for the emergency transport by ambulance (whether by road, air, or water) of the claimant,—

  • (a) the amount payable under the contract or arrangement (if any) between the transport provider and the Corporation for the provision of the transport; or

  • (b) if no such contract or arrangement exists, the lesser of—

    • (i) the amount that the transport provider would have charged the Crown or a district health board or other person under an agreement (if any) in force under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 if the transport had been provided for the claimant for a reason other than his or her suffering personal injury; or

    • (ii) the amount charged for the transport by the transport provider; or

    • (iii) an amount equal to the lowest amount that would have been payable if the transport had been provided under a contract or arrangement with the Corporation.

  (2) If the emergency transport is by motor vehicle ambulance by road, the Corporation is liable to pay the amount (if any) that the transport provider would have charged the claimant if the transport had been provided for a reason other than his or her suffering personal injury.

  (3) The Corporation is not liable to pay anything under this regulation if the claimant dies before the emergency transport reaches him or her.

  (4) If there is no contract or arrangement between the emergency transport provider and the Corporation for the provision of the emergency transport, the Corporation is liable to pay under this regulation only if either—

  • (a) the provider is dispatched by an emergency ambulance communications control centre; or

  • (b) the provider can demonstrate that dispatch by an emergency ambulance communications control centre was not possible.

  (5) If emergency transport is provided by air, the amount that the Corporation is liable to pay under subclauses (1) to (4)—

  • (a) relates to the costs of—

    • (i) flying an aircraft from the aircraft's base to the place where the claimant is collected; and

    • (ii) transporting the claimant in the aircraft; and

    • (iii) flying the aircraft from the place where the claimant is offloaded to the aircraft's base; but

  • (b) does not relate to the costs of—

    • (i) time spent searching for the claimant; or

    • (ii) time spent on those parts of the aircraft's route that are unrelated to the emergency transport of the claimant.