Ambulance operations centre opens at Coomera
It may well be overdue but the Queensland Ambulance Service’s new South East Operations Centre at Coomera has been officially opened.
Gold Coast ambulance communications staff have moved into the $23.3 million state-of-the-art facility, which will manage hundreds of thousands of Triple Zero calls each year.
The Coomera Ambulance Operations Centre was officially announced in the Queensland Budget for 2023–24, with funding allocated in June 2023.
The South East Operations Centre will coordinate ambulances across the Gold Coast region.
Minister for Health Tim Nicholls said the new centre was a “game changer”.
“This new operations centre is an absolute game changer for our ambulance service in the south, with the ability to hold 120 Triple Zero call takers compared to just 36 at the previous premises,” Mr Nicholls said.
“This new operations centre ensures we’re keeping pace with population growth and delivering world-class emergency care to Queenslanders when they need it most.”
The centre features specially designed consoles for staff and has been designed to support surge capacity for major events such as Schoolies, severe weather events, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and for training.
QAS answered 1,233,433 Triple Zero calls in the last financial year, with 850 Triple Zero calls taken on the Gold Coast each day.
QAS Commissioner Craig Emery said the South East Operations Centre provided greater flexibility and resilience at a time when calls for pre-hospital care were high across the entire system.
“This facility is designed to be agile and scalable – capable of handling everything from our day-to-day emergencies through to large-scale disasters and events,” Commissioner Emery said.
“Our (call centre staff) s are the unseen frontline officers in pre-hospital care, and consistently approach a challenging role with professionalism and empathy. “
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