About Us

Erica explains that as a Medical Director, alongside doctors Andy and Dave, their role is to be “the link between the frontline emergency ambulance service, operations, clinical communications and the back office”. A dynamic, diverse and essential role, our Medical Directors “input into clinical decisions”, which means our Medical Directors can be asked to advise on decisions that involve patients, especially if the incident is complex.

On any given day, Erica might be working at a national level alongside the other emergency ambulance service, Hato Hone St John, and air health service providers, reviewing the paramedic scope of practice (the legal definition of a paramedic’s role and responsibilities) and clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), which ensure a consistency of care across the country.

As well as being actively involved in the review and updates of these essential requirements, Erica is “involved in the education and training of our frontline crews, especially when the CPGs are updated”.  She also works alongside education providers, such as Whitireia, to develop, maintain and update the curriculum to ensure paramedic students are trained to the latest standards.

A specific responsibility that only our Medical Directors hold is the ability to grant ATPs to staff. ATP is Authority to Practise and allows staff to treat patients at different levels of qualification and skill, ranging from Emergency Medical Technician to Intensive Care Paramedic and higher.

Erica may also find herself advocating for Wellington Free at the local, national and international level, thanks to sitting on a range of committees.

‘A dynamic and diverse role’

The Medical Director role also involves clinical governance and retaining oversight of the care Wellington Free provides to our patients, including reviewing and updating Patient Care Plans (an agreed plan of tailored medical care for patients with complex, ongoing needs). Erica describes this part of her role as “ensuring we’re practising safely and that we identify any learning opportunities”.

This involvement in patient care extends to our Medical Directors “being on call 24/7 for our crews if they need help navigating tricky situations [an on-call role shared across all three Medical Directors]. This might be talking to one of our Clinical Paramedic Advisors [a specialist team of paramedics in our Clinical Hub who provide expert care and advice to patients over the phone] or hopping in a car with our frontline Shift Managers to provide senior clinical support at certain incidents. The days I go out with our frontline crews feel like a bonus to my role!”

Erica describes her role as “dynamic and diverse” and laughs that “there is no typical day”. For Erica, a workday could “involve a combination of meetings, teaching, calls, station visits, or jumping in a response vehicle to a RSI incident [Rapid Sequence Intubation, a specialist technique to secure a patient's airway] to provide senior clinical support”.

Erica’s path to Wellington Free Ambulance

Erica joined the Wellington Free Ambulance team in 2023, after relocating with her family to Gisborne in late 2020.

She explains:

“I began my medical career as a paramedic in Denver, Colorado (USA) about 25 years ago. I worked in an ambulance and a hospital, meeting my husband who was also a paramedic. I went to medical school, completing my medical training as an Emergency Medicine Specialist. Because of my passion for prehospital medicine, I completed a fellowship in prehospital and disaster medicine. I’ve been the Medical Director for multiple 911 services and flight retrieval services.

In late 2020, my family and I were feeling the COVID-19 burnout, so we decided to look to do a sabbatical in New Zealand. I had a window of time in my career where I could take a break from my jobs in the USA. My daughter did a PowerPoint presentation about all the good stuff about New Zealand and said: I vote for New Zealand!

I took a role at Gisborne Hospital where I worked for 3 years but really missed prehospital medicine in my practice.

We loved Gisborne. It was a beautiful small community, with beautiful beaches. We loved the people. They were so welcoming and friendly. But it was incredibly isolated and after a few major weather events, we decided to move to a bigger city.

When I first moved to New Zealand, I worked a few months in Wellington Hospital and had contacts through there.

I kept hearing things like ‘we have a great ambulance service here’ – there seemed to be so much pride for Wellington Free Ambulance’s service so I decided to learn more.

I was inspired by the commitment of Wellington Free people to the organisation, cause and community. My research coincided with the launch of Wellington Free’s strategy [Kia ora te Tangata – Strategy 2030]. I really liked that Wellington Free had taken the time to be reflective about where it had been and where it wanted to go.

Through Wellington Hospital I met Dr Dave [another one of our Medical Directors]. We’d go out mountain biking together and would talk about our shared healthcare vision and the future of prehospital care. It was an aspirational dream, but we could see the opportunity Wellington Free provides – it’s small enough to make change quickly and big enough to make a difference to the wider healthcare system.”

A ‘passion project’

Although Erica’s favourite part about working for Wellington Free is the people, she’s also really excited about what she describes as her “passion project” – Enhanced Virtual Care. This project is about “getting people the care they need, when and where they need it. It’s about uplifting our Clinical Hub and giving patients another option about how they receive care”.

Enhanced Virtual Care’s first focus is expanding our Clinical Hub, increasing the number of Clinical Paramedic Advisors and the number of 111 calls in our region which get a call back from a clinician before an ambulance is dispatched. This allows us to work out what skillset is best when we do attend (for example, some patients can be treated at home by Extended Care Paramedics) and point patients who are unlikely to benefit from our services in a more appropriate direction.

Enhanced Virtual Care is about providing the best treatment and caring for the needs and preferences of our patients by providing individualised care without leaving home, or through the best local services.

An active life

When Erica isn’t working, she loves “to mountain bike and be as active as possible. I used to play volleyball throughout college, so I’ve joined a league here. I also play tennis. We love to go camping and off the grid as much as possible too”. A lover of coffee, Erica has found herself at home in Wellington!

Thank you for sharing your story with us Erica, and welcome to the team!