An innovative approach to ambulance stations has started in Christchurch.
St John has placed a portable ambulance station constructed of containers in the suburb of Wainoni.
The station is at 250 Pages Road, on land owned by Ngā Hau e Whā National Marae, and is a temporary replacement for the previous Wainoni ambulance station at Helanca Avenue, which was badly damaged in the 13 June 2011 earthquake and remains closed for safety reasons.
The portable station went operational on 3 December. The MP for Christchurch East, the Hon. Lianne Dalziel, visited on 7 December and was shown round the station by Chris Haines, Regional Operations Manager (on the right), and Curt Ward, Intensive Care Paramedic (on the left).
The prototype station is the first of several that St John hopes to install in Christchurch in the coming years.
David Thomas, General Manager South Island, says this is an important step for St John in Christchurch.
“St John is committed to supporting and caring for the communities of the eastern suburbs. At the same time, with the population of Christchurch likely to shift in the coming years, we need to be responsive to this.”
Re-locatable stations such as this facility enable St John to do this, says Mr Thomas. “As the need and population moves in Christchurch, it is easier for St John to move a re-locatable station than to move or find permanent buildings.”