Construction of New Zealand’s first central city-based Ambulance hub is underway in Christchurch, but the charitable Order of St John organisation is $2 million short of it’s $15 million targets to complete the building.
According to Stuff, more than 90,000 bolts hold the towering steel and timber structure in place on the corner building site of Durham and St Asaph streets.
It is some months away from becoming the Order of St John’s new “make ready hub and logistics facility.” The first of it’s kind, other centres are likely to follow, and it’s touted as the Orders biggest yet building project according to Stuff.
It will be a hub for the Order’s vehicles in Christchurch providing a base for ambulances to return to for decontaminating and restocking.
The Order of St John expects to bring more than 150 staff back to the City.
Volunteers and paid staff would be primarily responsible for cleaning the vehicles, rather than paramedics, who typically spend more than 40 minutes engaged in such activity.
The Order’s South Island general manager David Thomas told Stuff that it would allow highly trained paramedics to devote more time to patients.
“If you gain and extra five or ten minutes it can equate to one more ambulance on the road,” says Thomas.
According to Thomas around 67% of paramedic’s time was spent with a patient, and the remaining 33% was spent waiting for a job or on a break.
Every time an Ambulance goes out it cost $545 says, Thomas.
