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Council Call For Extra Ambos

Bass Coast Shire Council is supporting calls for additional ambulance services in the Shire.

By Bass Coast Shire Council - 20th July 2009 - Back to News

In a letter to Mr Greg Sassella, Chief Executive Officer of Ambulance Victoria, Bass Coast Mayor, Cr John Duscher, outlined Council’s concern over the level of coverage in Bass Coast, particularly in the Grantville district.

"In March 2005 the Grantville and District Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was established and this team deals with emergencies within a 12 minute drive from Grantville," explained Cr Duscher.

"On average, the CERT team arrives 13 minutes ahead of the ambulance and has a current case load of close to 350 cases a year.

"This is an enormous work load and is putting a lot of pressure on our local volunteers.

"With no station within 20 minutes, we believe this increasing workload makes a compelling case for establishing an ambulance station in the Grantville area."

Cr Duscher said the increase in population and the high percentage of older residents also needed to be considered.

"Population forecasts by age group show that the region will continue to attract retirees and older people," said Cr Duscher.

"This will place growing demands on local health care, as well as emergency and social services.

"There are also an increasing number of holiday homes being used over summer or as weekenders.

"It is obvious that our volunteers do not have the resources to continue to provide an effective service and we need to address this issue now."

The demand on local emergency services is expected to continue increasing.

"The expansion of the Bass Highway has seen more traffic going through the Grantville area," said Cr Duscher.

"When work begins on the desalination plant later this year, there will be more traffic and more people will move to the area. All of these put strain on our services.

"We believe an ambulance base at Grantville is a vital part of upgrading emergency services in Bass Coast."

Bass Coast Shire Council has asked for a meeting with Ambulance Victoria to discuss the issues.


Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com



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