New Zealand - International Harvester Company: c-line St John ambulance - Ashburton - Circa 1970 - Standish and Preece Photo Ambulance services - New Zealand’s first hospitals were built in the mid-19th century. Sick or injured people had to get themselves to hospital – by horse and cart, or train. A few hospitals had their own horse-drawn ambulances, but patients had to pay for transport and for medical care. - The Order of St John ran the first free ambulance service, in Dunedin in 1892. St John set up ambulance brigades around the country, run by volunteers. In the 2000s it still provided most of New Zealand’s ambulance services. - After the First World War the Defence Department lent wartime field ambulances to hospital boards. Motorised ambulances arrived in the 1920s. - Wellington Free Ambulance was set up in 1927 with the help of the city’s mayor, Charles Norwood. Because he owned a car assembly plant, he donated vehicles. (Reference: read more at https://teara.govt.nz/en/ambulance-services) ---------------------- Image source: Film negative: International Harvester Company: c-line St John ambulance https://collection.canterburymuseum.com/objects/683189/film-negative-international-harvester-company-c-line-st-john-ambulance