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First Ever Permanent Ambulance Service For Nagambie

03 August 2016

The Andrews Labor Government has welcomed Nagambie’s first ever permanent ambulance service, which will deliver a quicker response to local medical emergencies around the clock.

Speaking in Nagambie today, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mary-Anne Thomas said the ambulance service, starting in October, would be staffed by Ambulance Community Officers with support from professional paramedics at peak times of the year.

The former Coalition Government had four years to deliver for the Nagambie community and they failed to act. This will give locals better access to the critical emergency care they need and deserve.

The new 24-hour Nagambie ambulance service follows an Ambulance Victoria trial over the past summer and Easter.

An evaluation of the trial found the Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) model of care was the best fit for a rural community such as Nagambie.

It will provide the quickest response to medical emergencies in Nagambie, with an ACO crew trained in delivering high quality emergency care based in the town. ACO crews are always backed up by paramedics.

The Labor Government is investing $144 million to fix the ambulance system after four years of crisis and neglect under the former Coalition Government. It includes the $60 million Ambulance Response Rescue Fund to provide faster response times and improve patient outcomes in rural communities

Since coming to office, the Labor Government has ended the long-running pay dispute with paramedics, appointed a new board of Ambulance Victoria led by Ken Lay and released previously secret data about ambulance response times.

Quotes attributable to Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mary-Anne Thomas

“This is the most significant investment of ambulance resources in Nagambie, and we are proud to be delivering it.”

“The new Nagambie Ambulance service will make a big difference to this community, who can now have confidence that emergency care is close by when they need it most – all day, every day.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes

“I thank Nagambie’s CERT volunteers for their dedication and passion for saving lives. They will now be offered extra training to build their skills and become Ambulance Community Officers.”

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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