South Australian Ambulance Service
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| Agency overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | Government of South Australia |
| Employees | 2,500+ |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | SA Health |
| Website | www.saambulance.com.au |
SA Ambulance Service is a Government agency under SA Health, that is the sole provider of emergency ambulance transport, clinical care and patient transport services to over 1.5 million people, distributed across an area of 1,043,514 square kilometres in South Australia, Australia.
The service employs approximately 1200 people, and utilizes 1500 volunteers, working out of 105 locations, operating 385 ambulance vehicles to provide emergency, non-emergency, aeromedical, rescue and retrieval services across the entire state.
SA Ambulance Service is known to operate a variety of emergency and non-emergency vehicles across the state, which travel in excess of 10 million kilometres each year.
All vehicles have distinctive livery, high visibility LED lightbar and warning lights and sirens. Recently introduced new design livery has improved visibility and safety.
Mercedes Sprinter 318 Vans operate around metropolitan areas whereas country areas use a variety of Mercedes Sprinter 316, 315 and 318 Vans and Toyota Landcruiser Troopcarriers. All emergency ambulance crews rostered within the Adelaide metropolitan area are skilled at least Paramedic level with numerous crews skilled at Intensive Care Paramedic level. These are the only emergency ambulances equipped with stretchers to transport patients.
Mercedes Benz Sprinter 315 and 318 vans have replaced Ford Transits for use by the Ambulance Patient Transport Service. These vehicles do not carry the same equipment as standard emergency ambulances but are equipped at Basic Life Support level.
SAAS also operate a team of Extended Care Paramedics, who operate from Mercedes Vito vans. Unlike regular paramedics, ECPs are able to treat patients for common medical issues, and refer to other health providers such as GPs if needed, reducing the need to transport patients to hospital emergency departments unnecessarily.
SPRINT Paramedics use Subaru Forester XT AWD vehicles for rapid response purposes within the Adelaide metropolitan area.
SPRINT paramedics also utilise bicycles at major events where heavy pedestrian traffic may reduce response times for larger vehicles. The crews may be used to help guide ambulances through busy areas, and carry limited medical equipment including oxygen and a defibrillator.
SAAS is currently trialling the use of rapid response motorbikes, and operates two bikes staffed between five SPRINT paramedics who have been specially trained in conjunction with Victoria Police.
SAAS use a mix of Holden Commodore (Sedan, Wagon, and Captiva variants) and Ford Territory AWD and Mitsubishi Challenger AWD vehicles for Team Leaders and Managers. The Special Operations Team use two Toyota Landcruiser 4WD vehicles and a purpose built Mercedes Sprinter 518 rescue support vehicle when performing the SOT responder role. An Isuzu 16 tonne Tactical Support Vehicle (Fleet 303) and a VW Kombi van are used as command vehicles for major incidents and planned events.
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Wikipedia