By Jesse Graham
YARRA Valley paramedics will be able to respond to emergencies quicker and have a place to relax in quiet moments, with the town’s new ambulance station opened on Friday 9 September.
Ambulance Services Minister Jill Hennessy and Ambulance Victoria CEO Tony Walker visited paramedics at the new station, on Westmount Road, on Friday afternoon for the official opening.
Ms Hennessy said the new building, constructed over the last seven months, was “spectacular”, with four ambulance bays, three rest rooms, a training room, rest facilities and a fully-equipped kitchen.
“We think that our paramedics deserve nothing less,” she said.
“So we don’t expect your gratitude on this kind of capital – this is the kind of place we want paramedics to be able to come back to, to be able to get good clinical education, to be supported.”
The building also features a memorial garden from the previous site, paying tribute to Robert Bland and Phillip Oakley who died when their ambulance rolled on the Black Spur in 2004.
Ms Hennessy highlighted the mental health of paramedics and said the new amenities would give paramedics the ability to unwind and talk with their colleagues.
“It’s important we’ve got space for paramedics to be trained well, but the most important thing is for paramedics to have a space where they can build collegiate culture and look after each other, because it’s one of the toughest jobs in the health sector,” she said.
She said the culture at Ambulance Victoria was “not just about good performance and good response time and good clinical outcomes”, but about paramedics having “long, fulfilling and prosperous careers”.
The station gives paramedics the ability to drive around the site, meaning ambulances will be able to enter and exit quicker, allowing for a better response time in emergencies.
Ambulance Victoria group manager Frank Cummane said that he had worked in the former Healesville site about 20 years ago, and said the new building was “absolutely fantastic”.
“It’s a little bit different to the old one,” he said.
Northern Victoria Region MP Jaclyn Symes said the station would make a “huge difference” for the paramedics, “who for far too long worked in cramped and out-dated conditions”.
