Craigieburn is no closer to getting its second ambulance station, 12 months after the station was announced by the government.
Ambulance Services Minister Jill Hennessy announced the new station on November 27 last year, as part of a $500 million investment in ambulance services across the state.
At the time, the government said it was yet to decide on a location for the station.
Twelve months on, the location is still not known.
Last week, a spokeswoman for Ms Hennessy told Star Weekly the government was working with Ambulance Victoria to determine the best site.
“We are currently undertaking a feasibility analysis of a number of potential sites, and we’ll be making further announcements when the analysis has been completed,” the spokeswoman said.
The new state-of-the-art station will be in addition to Craigieburn’s existing ambulance station on Lygon Drive.
It will feature a drive-in, drive-out garage bay for vehicles, rest areas, training rooms, bedrooms, modern amenities and a fully-fitted kitchen.
Ms Hennessy said the new station would help paramedics to respond more quickly to emergencies.
“In a medical emergency, every second saves lives. That’s why we’re ensuring people in Craigieburn get the right emergency care, quickly, when they need it,” she said.
Ambulance Victoria data revealed that in the three months to September this year, the average code one ambulance response time in Hume was 12.16 minutes, down from 14 minutes in September last year.
Ambulance Victoria aims to arrive at code one emergencies within 15 minutes.
However, paramedics responded to just 78.7 per cent of code one emergencies in Hume within the target.
Earlier this year, the government fast-tracked the allocation of a new paramedic team to Craigieburn.
The team of 14 is a mix of graduate and experienced paramedics and was allocated to the station to boost response times.
