South Australia has recorded its best Priority 1 ambulance response times in more than five years, as the Malinauskas Labor Government today opens the state's landmark new $134 million ambulance headquarters and delivers its election commitment of recruiting 350 extra ambos.
The Malinauskas Government's record investment in the ambulance service is helping save lives and ensuring thousands more South Australians in lights and sirens emergencies are receiving an ambulance on time.
In November, ambulances reached 78.7 per cent of Priority 1 cases in the target timeframe of 8 minutes, compared to only 47.1 per cent in January 2022. It's the best result since August 2020.
The state has also recorded its best Priority 2 response times in seven months.
Ambulances reached 64.3 per cent of Priority 2 cases in the target 16-minute timeframe in November, compared to only 36.2 per cent in January 2022. It's the best result since April.
It means an extra 3,115 South Australians in lights and sirens emergencies received an ambulance on time last month under the Malinauskas Government, compared to January 2022 under the Liberal Government, as the Government's record investment in the ambulance service delivers results.
A centrepiece of that investment – a brand-new $134 million hi-tech ambulance headquarters to replace the outdated Greenhill Road site – officially opens today.
It follows the opening of the brand-new co-located Adelaide Ambulance Station last month.
The city-fringe ambulance precinct, on Richmond Road at Mile End South, delivers a key election commitment.
The Malinauskas Government has now also delivered its 36th new ambulance and has recruited 350 new paramedics, ambulance officers, emergency medical dispatchers and clinical leaders – another milestone election commitment.
The new SAAS Precinct is the new home for Critical Operational Services, the Emergency Operations Centre, and the State Health Coordination Centre (SHCC), and includes the co-located Adelaide Station.
It offers superior building and technical infrastructure, designed to ensure those providing critical services, like Triple Zero (000) call-taking, ambulance resource dispatch and aeromedical retrieval coordination, can do so in all conditions.
Built with state-of-the-art systems, materials and technology, the Precinct can operate in island-mode should essential services like power and water be temporarily unavailable.
The Precinct's dynamic physical layout can cater for large multi-agency incident management, while also providing spaces for clinicians conducting confidential telehealth consultations with patients.
The Critical Operational Services directorate is the nerve centre of SAAS, comprising highly-skilled critical infrastructure technical teams, rostering, support staff and the Emergency Operations Centre. The EOC includes Triple Zero (000) call takers, dispatchers, clinicians conducting secondary triage telehealth, clinical support teams and the aeromedical retrieval coordination team.
On average during the 2024-25 financial year, SAAS received more than 900 Triple Zero (000) calls each day, compared with more than 780 Triple Zero (000) calls per day in 2021-22.
Also located on the Precinct site is the Adelaide Station, which has been operational since Monday 10 November. The new station features purpose-built training and meeting spaces, a kitchen, rest areas, office accommodation, and garaging for nine ambulances and two light fleet.
Since the last election, 350 additional SAAS operational staff have now been recruited under Labor.
The final 30 paramedics took to South Australia's roads in November, and were deployed to Strathalbyn, Goolwa, Two Wells and Port Pirie.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
Our record investment in the ambulance service is saving lives and has turned around ambulance response times.
Two in three South Australians in lights and sirens emergencies are now receiving an ambulance on time compared to only one in three under the former Liberal Government.
We have also now put an extra 350 ambos on our roads and today we're opening a state-of-the-art new ambulance headquarters – delivering key election commitments.
As put by Chris Picton
Our brand-new hi-tech ambulance headquarters is the jewel in the crown of our record investment in the ambulance service.
It will provide a state-of-the-art location and the latest technology for our brilliant ambulance staff to do the amazing work they do every day in emergencies saving South Australian lives.
We have significantly bolstered our ambulance service – recruiting an additional 350 ambos for the state, delivering on a key election commitment.
We've also turned around response times – achieving the best Priority 1 response times in more than five years and best Priority 2 response times in seven months.
And we're delivering 24 brand-new, upgraded or completely rebuilt ambulance stations.
As put by SAAS Chief Executive Officer Rob Elliott
I am tremendously proud of our Critical Operational Services team. Thanks to their tireless work over many months, they have delivered a seamless transition of the critical SAAS Triple Zero (000) function from our old site to this extraordinary new facility.
The staff that now call the Precinct their base typically work long shifts and undertake high-intensity critical work.
In addition to being significantly larger than the existing EOC, the physical structure of the new build supports the EOC's ICT and redundancy needs, an essential public safety requirement of our critical Triple Zero (000) infrastructure for ambulance, and supports the critical safety, welfare, training and practical workspace requirements for our people.
The Precinct's significantly upgraded incident management capability has been purpose-built to ensure SAAS and its fellow emergency services can meet the urgency of any multi-agency response.
This expanded physical and technological capacity means that in times of crisis, it can provide a redundancy site for the Emergency Operations Centres of other emergency services, further strengthening South Australia's ability to rapidly respond to statewide emergencies.
