Upgrade ambulance station at Ettalong, says Tesch
Ettalong Beach Ambulance Station should be upgraded, rather than moved to Woy Woy, according to Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch.
"The closure will add minutes to emergency ambulance wait-times in Ettalong Beach, Umina Beach, Pearl Beach and Patonga," she said.
"A minute in traffic for an ambulance could be the difference between life and death."
Ms Tesch said there were unanswered questions about what the plan meant for staffing of paramedics, traffic concerns on Ocean Beach Rd and travel-time differences from Woy Woy compared to Ettalong Beach.
She said she would pursue them in State Parliament.
Ms Tesch said staff at the Ettalong station were blindsided by the relocation and only found out when community members received a letterboxed handout from NSW Health.
"It's completely unacceptable that our hard-working paramedics who were championed by this Government during the pandemic weren't told about this change," she said.
Labor candidate for Robertson Dr. Gordon Reid joined Ms Tesch in opposing the move, saying that "proximal ambulance stations" were essential to the community.
"In life-or-death circumstances, it is absolutely critical that emergency services are located at reasonable distances.
"With this decision to relocate Ettalong Beach Ambulance Station into Woy Woy Hospital, we will see paramedics having to navigate the busy Ocean Beach Rd corridor and potentially adding minutes to a call-out."
SOURCE:
Media release, 24 Nov 2021
Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford