A purpose-built ambulance station has opened at Strathalbyn in South Australian's eastern Fleurieu Peninsula region.
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The station, which cost $4.6 million to build, houses 40 volunteers staff, a regional paramedic team leader, and a six-person regional medical transfer service crew.
It will also be the base of a 12-person paramedic team for Strathalbyn, which is set to start in 2025. The station is one of 11 the Labor government had promised to build in the state.
The new ambulance station, at Dry Plains Road, has a large training space, a four-bay garage, a kitchen, rest and recline areas, and secure car parking for crew members. The station will replace the ageing Rankine Street station, after more than 20 years of operation.
The Strathalbyn station will be fully operational from Thursday, February 9.
Besides the Strathalbyn team, the government has announced a 12-person paramedic crew and a six-person regional transfer crew for nearby Mount Barker to support the Adelaide Hills region.
South Australian Ambulance Service interim executive director country operations, Robert Tolson, said the Strathalbyn volunteers respond to about 1520 incidents each year, and the Strathalbyn regional medical transfer crew responded to 637 cases last financial year.
Other announcements from the government about ambulance stations in the Fleurieu include land for a new station in Victor Harbor, and an upgrade to the existing station at Goolwa. The government has also promised an extra 24 paramedics, including a 12-person paramedic crew based at Victor Harbor from 2024, and another dozen at Goolwa in 2025, to provide 24/7 emergency services.
