The Andrews Labor Government has started building Tatura’s first ever ambulance branch, which will deliver faster response times to life-threatening local emergencies.
Minister for Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy today toured the construction site of the state-of-the-art ambulance branch on Casey Street, on track to be completed by mid-2019.
The new ambulance branch will feature a four-bay garage and modern facilities for paramedics including lounge areas, a kitchen, training room and amenities. There is also plenty of space for the service to grow.
It will provide a 24/7 emergency service for the Tatura community. With a modern base in the heart of town, response times will continue to improve and more lives will be saved as Tatura patients get the emergency care they need, sooner.
The visit marks the anniversary of Tatura becoming Victoria’s first Heart Safe Community, an Ambulance Victoria and Heart Foundation program aimed at improving survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Around one in five local residents (868 people) have been trained in the use of CPR and defibrillators in cardiac arrest, and 18 defibrillators have been registered with Ambulance Victoria in the past 12 months.
Early findings show increased community confidence with a review of 80 participants, mostly over the age of 65, finding they were three and a half times more likely to perform CPR, and six times more likely to use defibrillator.
Under the Liberals, Victoria’s ambulance system was plunged into crisis, as their war with paramedics led to the worst response times on the Australian mainland.
The Labor Government has fixed the Liberals’ mess and is delivering the largest funding boost for ambulance services in Victoria’s history. Our $500 million plan to cut response times is employing 450 more paramedics, building more stations and buying new vehicles across the state.
Thanks to our reforms of the system and record investment, 83.8 per cent of all Code One urgent ambulances are arriving within 15 minutes – the best quarterly result in Ambulance Victoria’s history.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy
“We are putting Tatura families first and building the town’s first ever ambulance branch to cut ambulance response times. The new 24/7 home base will give paramedics the very safest and modern facilities they need.”
“Labor is getting is getting it done and investing more than any Government in Victoria’s history to improve ambulance response times, here in Tatura and across the state.”
Quote attributable to Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes
“Tatura families can rest assured that when an emergency strikes, life-saving paramedics are literally just around the corner.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020