Residents of Adelaide’s inner-eastern suburbs will receive a more efficient and timely ambulance response thanks to the opening of the $8.5 million Norwood Ambulance Station this week.
This state-of-the-art facility, which is located at the corner of Portrush and Magill roads, was built to address a critical coverage gap in the city-fringe suburbs.
The new station will house a dedicated 24-7 16-paramedic crew and 12 Emergency Support Service ambulance officers.
The Norwood Ambulance Station is the fifth of 15 new or rebuilt stations across the state that have opened since 2022, joining stations in Birdwood, Strathalbyn and Port Augusta, and the first new metro station to open at Woodville earlier this month.
It includes facilities to garage five ambulances and two light fleet vehicles, with a carport for an additional eight vehicles.
Designed with future growth in mind, the station also features training spaces and offices that will serve as a hub for ongoing skills development for metro-east paramedics.
SA Ambulance Service Chief Executive Officer Rob Elliot said the opening of the Norwood station “marks a signif
icant milestone in our ongoing efforts to enhance ambulance services across the state, but particularly in the inner-eastern suburbs”.
“We are proud to provide our dedicated Norwood paramedics and ambulance officers with state-of-the-art facilities for deployment and training that will support them to deliver the highest standard of care to those in need,” Mr Elliot said.
“This station’s design and location will further strengthen our ability to respond effectively to emergencies.”
Pictured right is Clinical Team Leader Tim with his son Bailey at the opening of the new station.
Meanwhile, CFS services in the Adelaide Hills and Southern Fleurieu have been boosted with two new support brigades established across the region.
The Sturt and Southern Fleurieu Operational Support brigades will play a vital back-of-house role for all incidents – providing a wide range of support to ground crews as they respond to bushfires and other emergencies.
Operational Support members’ roles include communications, logistics, operations, catering and peer and family support – enabling volunteers to serve their communities, even when they are unable or do not wish to be frontline firefighters.
The two new brigades are the first of their kind to be formed since 2016 and comprise 22 Operational Support brigades around the state.
The Sturt Operational Support brigade – part of the Sturt Group – covers areas including Belair, Blackwood, Cherry Gardens, Coromandel Valley and Eden Hills, with training held at Belair and Cherry Gardens stations.
The Southern Fleurieu Operational Support brigade – part of the Southern Fleurieu Group – covers areas including Cape Jervis, Hay Flat, Inman Valley, Myponga, Parawa, Rapid Bay and Yankalilla, which is where the brigade is based.
Both brigades will support up to 20 volunteers and have been formed after extensive consultation with CFS staff and volunteers, community groups and government agencies to increase services in areas of growing need.
Anyone interested in joining is encouraged to head to the CFS volunteers page, with final placements expected to be filled by September.
There are now 427 SA Country Fire Service brigades representing 13,500 volunteers in six regions across the state.
CFS Regional Commander Michael Bohrnsen said that with a growing population in peri-urban areas it was important to bring in these additional support services.
“The brigades will consist of volunteers who will be professionally trained to provide radio communications, logistics and other key requirements for ground crews to tackle and get on top of future incidents,” Mr Bohrnsen said.
