St John commissions ambulance to boost service

THE St John Ambulance has commissioned two new ambulances to support their new paramedic programme.
Chief officer Dr Matthew Cannon said one ambulance was jointly funded with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) committee and the other was donated by the Sir Brian Bell Foundation.
“All ambulances are equipped with essential ambulance lifesaving equipment, like an oxygen resuscitation kit, GPS and fuel monitoring system,” he said.
“The ambulance operations centre will use customised software, referred to as computer aided dispatch, to track the call and share dispatch information between emergency operators, ensuring efficient response and safety for paramedics.”
He said advanced life support and intensive care equipment were important in ambulances and response vehicles with at least one advanced paramedic unit available at all times.
“All ambulance vehicles are GPS-tracked and communication is through a radio network operated by Black Swan International, and funded by the Australian High Commission.
“Continuous communication is maintained with police and fire services by having their radios in our operations centre.”
Present at the event was Police Minister Jelta Wong, Culture and Tourism Minister Emil Tamur, Lands and Physical Planning Minister Justin Tkatchenko, National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop, Australian High Commission counsellor Christine Sturrock, members of New South Wales ambulance and Sir Brian Bell Foundation
chief executive officer Bronwyn Wright.