First Responders do a magnificent job but program underscores urgent need for a Bellbowrie Ambulance Station
Thursday, 12 February 2009 16:26
Website newsletter readers will remember that starting last May we were successful in getting an ambulance first responder program up and running in the Bellbowrie/Pullenvale area.
This followed a campaign I conducted in response to appalling ambulance response times in critical emergencies for residents of our local area.
I want to pay tribute to the dedicated volunteers who have given an enormous amount of their time for training, to be on-call and to attend emergencies.
Since its establishment in May 2008, First Responders have responded to an amazing 189 emergency situations. This is far more than the equivalent number when the First Responder Program was set up in the Samford Valley and underscores the urgent need for Bellbowrie to actually have an ambulance station.
The Samford Valley with a lower population and less call on its First Responders was given an ambulance station. It is now clear that one is needed in Bellbowrie.
An ambulance station in Bellbowrie would also remove some pressure from Kenmore and allow better response times in Kenmore, Chapel Hill and Brookfield.
In an emergency there is no substitute for a fully equipped ambulance and paramedics. Our local area continues to have some of the worst ambulance response times in Brisbane. This is important to note because there is a tendency not to think about ambulances until you need one. I have witnessed local residents for whom this has been too late.
In the setting up of the First Responder Program and during my advocacy for a local ambulance station I was told that there was a need for 300 emergencies to justify the presence of a station.
With a start up First Responder Program alone attending to nearly 200 in around 8 months any doubt that the Moggill/Bellbowrie area needs an ambulance station has been completely swept away. I will be taking this matter to the Minister and to the Queensland Parliament.