Rocky Ambulance station receives million dollar boost

Paramedics will have a state of the art facility to support their lifesaving efforts.

Officer on Charge Jenni Cousens, Operations Supervisor Ed Moorhouse, Operations Centre Manager Lea Kettle, Barry O'Rourke MP, Brittany McKee MP, and Steven Coombs welcome the QAS refurbishments

ROCKHAMPTON’S Queensland Ambulance Station and Operation Centre will be updated for the 21st century thanks to a $10 million commitment from the Queensland Government.

Rockhampton MP Barry O’Rourke and Keppel MP Brittany Lauga visited to the station yesterday to discuss the refurbishment.

Mr O’Rourke said the massive makeover would include upgrading the operations centre and creating a space to train future paramedics.

Ms Lauga said the State Government was delivering for the region by building new facilities, hiring new ambos, and ensuring that “regional Queensland gets the resources we deserve”.

“Since 2015 we’ve added an additional 31 QAS staff, including 16 in this year alone.”

Normal operations won’t be affected by the upgrade, as an alternate site will be acquired to act as a temporary station during the refurbishment process.

Works are expected to be completed in mid 2021.

Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services Steven Miles said that the Palaszczuk Government was backing in Queensland’s Ambos.

“Across Queensland we’ve been building new stations, hiring new ambos, and getting more ambulances on the road,” Mr Miles said.

“We’ve invested record funding for QAS, and that means we can do things like build a bigger and better station in Rockhampton.

“In the 2019-20 Budget we invested $885.7 million this year alone in QAS, an increase of $85.4 million on the previous year.

“The budget included funding for planning of the refurbishment and now we’re following through and delivering.”

QAS Commissioner Russell Bowles said the upgraded facilities would support our paramedics and Operations Centre staff with state-of-the-art facilities to assist them in serving the community.

“The Rockhampton Operations Centre covers a wide and diverse part of Queensland, taking Triple Zero (000) calls from as far south as Agnes Water, as far north as Bowen and as far west as Winton and Windorah, so this upgrade spans well beyond Rockhampton city itself.” Mr Bowles said.

“We’re planning for construction to be completed by mid 2021 and the community can be assured there will be no changes to the great care they’re already receiving by the Queensland Ambulance Service.

“This is about ensuring our facilities are contemporary and continue to have the ability to respond to the growing demand for our services.”

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