About Us

Heidi Heddings is part of our Clinical Communications Centre in Wellington and says she is lucky to work with so many amazing and inspiring people.

“We look after each other, whether it is helping with a call or talking through the tough ones, we are like family,” Heidi explains.

However, as the frequency of COVID-19 related calls increase so does the impact this has on our team.

“We are definitely feeling the pressure of the increased volume of calls, meaning there is little or no time to refocus after each call.”

With COVID-19 screening, calls can sometimes take longer but the team work hard to calm and reassure callers who may feel panicked or scared so they can get the information they need to provide the best possible care.

“As Emergency Medical Call Takers, we are trained to gather information about each individual situation to arrange the most appropriate help,” she says.

Sometimes this means an ambulance is needed, in other cases it means a patient is referred to a nurse or a paramedic on the Clinical Desk.

Heidi knows first-hand how vital call takers are and recalls the time her sister called an ambulance for their grandmother; she praises the call taker on that job. 

“I was very grateful she had someone on the phone to help her through that very scary time until the ambulance arrived, especially when I couldn’t get there myself.”

She is proud to be that person for others.

Heidi says Wellington Free are extremely fortunate to have skilled professionals who despite extraordinary circumstances, continue to provide the same high quality care.

“We will continue to do so to the best of our ability for as long as it takes,” says Heidi. “Working at Wellington Free means walking away at the end of each day knowing you have helped people in real need.”