Five new ambulances and two new paramedic crews are to be added to the ACT’s emergency services arsenal.
Announced by the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Mick Gentlemen the additions will come at a cost of $15.7 million but will ensure Canberra maintains the fastest ambulance response times in the country.
Mr Gentleman said 30 new paramedics would be recruited to join the ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) to fill the two new crews.
“Five new state-of-the-art ambulances fitted with electronic stretchers, power loaders and brand new defibrillators will join the ACTAS fleet,” Mr Gentleman said.
He said the new staff and facilities were additional to the 23 paramedics and two ambulances delivered in 2017-18.
“We also bolstered the ACTAS fleet in 2018 with five new ambulances replacing older vehicles and six more ambulances being fitted with electric stretchers and power loaders,” Mr Gentleman said.
“ACTAS has seen steady growth in the number of Triple Zero (000) calls in recent years due to population growth and changes in the age profile of the Canberra community.”
He said ambulance call-outs across Canberra had risen from 35,000 in 2009-10 to 54,000 in 2017-18.
