DHB smokes $658-a-slice toasters | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Wairarapa Hospital is ditching toasters for sandwich-presses after false alarms were calculated to cost the District Health Board $658 per slice of burnt toast.

The fire service has been called out to the hospital three times in the past year when toasters triggered smoke alarms in areas not designated as kitchens.

To combat future call-outs - the last two false alarms costing the DHB $2634.20 - four toasters are being replaced with cafe-style sandwich-presses.

DHB spokeswoman Jill Stringer said toast-loving patients and medical staff should not despair as the presses could still toast bread but because they used different elements they lowered the risk of burning and smoke.

She said the cost of the presses - negotiated with a local retailer - was marginal compared with the alarms, which automatically dispatched three fire engines, three fire-fighting crews and volunteers.

The DHB is entitled to two free call-outs a year before it incurs a charge of $1250 and an additional sum for each hour the fire service is at the scene.

Robyn Brady, the DHB's general manager of service improvement and clinical support, said that meant their two false alarms cost $658.55 per slice of toast.