Question On Notice No. 884 asked in the Legislative Council on 30 August 2022 by Hon Dr Steve Thomas
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I refer to ambulance coverage along the Albany Highway between Perth and Albany, and I ask:
(a) which ambulance substations service Albany Highway in response to road accidents;
(b) which of those substations are staffed by paid ambulance officers and which are staffed by volunteers;
(c) what distance does each substation cover as primary service providers along the highway;
(d) are any areas of Albany Highway more than one hour's response time from an ambulance substation, and, if so, which areas;
(e) what is the average response time for accidents on Albany Highway;
(f) what is the Government's management plan for ambulance services along Albany Highway; and
(g) have any changes been made to ambulance management along Albany Highway, and, if so, what are those changes?
Answered on 13 October 2022
(a) The following sub-stations service Albany Highway; Narrogin, Williams, Darken, Wagin, Katanning, Kojonup, Tambellup, Cranbrook, Mount Barker and Albany.
(b) Narrogin and Albany sub-stations are staffed by Paid Ambulance Officers (partnered with Volunteer Ambulance Officers). Williams, Darken, Wagin, Katanning, Kojonup, Tambellup, Cranbrook and Mount Barker sub-stations are staffed by Volunteer Ambulance Officers.
(c) There is no specified coverage area for each sub-station. In the case of an incident, the State Operations Centre (SOC) would dispatch the closest available resource to respond.
(d) No.
(e) St John Ambulance (SJA) WA’s average response time to motor vehicle accidents where the patient scene location was Albany Highway, from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 was 15 minutes and 34 seconds.
(f) The Government is currently in contract negotiation with SJA and will aim to better define the level of services available to country communities.
(g) No changes have been made to ambulance management along Albany Highway by SJA.