New ambulance station meets increasing demand
The new Warragul West Ambulance Station in Burke St is set to begin operations this month.
Plans to build the station were initially announced in 2018 and construction began mid-last year. The new station, the second in Warragul, is intended to cater for the rapidly growing community and allow paramedics to quickly respond to local emergencies.
Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing toured the facility early last week with local paramedics and members of the construction company.
The new facility features a four-bay garage, four rest and recline areas, a kitchen, training space and secure parking for staff members.
In the coming month or so, the station will be fitted-out with furnishings and other essential items before operations officially begin.
Ambulance Victoria Gippsland regional director Ross Salathiel said the new station will give crews easier access to the top end of Warragul, Drouin, and the centre of town.
“By spreading out resources across the township, they’re not all in the one location, which means we should get better response times,” he said.
“It also gives us additional facilities for our staff given we’ve outgrown the resources in Warragul so much and we’ve got too many staff to fit in the current branch.”
Warragul’s current station has 42 staff members, and Mr Salathiel said changes had to be made to things like locker room configurations at the existing branch to cater for the number of staff working there.
Ms Shing said Warragul had “absolutely smashed it out of the park” in terms of growth in recent years.
“We all have stories of the paramedics in our own lives who’ve come in and helped us or the ones we love and in many, instances saved lives,” she said.
“In particular at the moment, your resources
are being stretched, all over the state. I’ve been doing a lot of work on flood response relief and recovery and you and your colleagues, including the way in which you stepped up to fill gaps while people have been deployed to the north of the state, have done the most extraordinary work.”
Malvern-based company May Constructions Pty Ltd was responsible for constructing the station.
Warragul West is one of two recently completed Ambulance Stations in Gippsland, the second being Moe Ambulance Station - which will be up and running in November as well.