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Sarnia, ON – Warden Todd Case made it official today – emergency medical staff based in Bright’s Grove have a brand new home, and 24/7 coverage is now available throughout the entire County.
Warden Todd Case, Manager of Emergency Medical Services, Steve VanValkenburg, and Deputy Warden/Sarnia City/County Councillor Jim Foubister cut the ribbon draped in front of one of the County’s emergency vehicles while General Manager of Community Services, Cindy Thayer, declared Sarnia EMS Station No. 2 officially open.
This is the fourth new ambulance base for the County of Lambton since 2002, and it will serve the western portion of Lambton. Similar ceremonies were held in Petrolia, Grand Bend and Brigden in 2002 and 2003.
All four EMS bases are identical in design, with the exception of Petrolia’s, which is a two-bay facility. All four stations are built by Chamney Construction and offer improved accommodation to staff who are now required to be on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new bases also better accommodate the storage of equipment.
“We’re very pleased to offer a first rate facility to our staff,” said Warden Case. “The improvements will greatly aid staff in delivering efficient services to Lambton’s residents.”
Guests on hand at today’s event also celebrated the introduction of 24/7 emergency care to all citizens in Lambton County which was completed this month. Previously, 24/7 coverage was only offered in the City of Sarnia. Other EMS bases throughout the County operated on 12 hour callback shifts, which meant that bases were only staffed 12 hours; the remaining 12 hours required staff to be at the base within 10 minutes.
“The implementation of 24/7 coverage will undoubtedly provide quicker response times and will improve patient care to all residents of Lambton County,” said Warden Case. “We started this shift to 24/7 coverage on November 2003 and we are proud that we were able to offer this service to residents within one year.”
Lambton EMS staff members work amongst nine different stations, one of which being Bright’s Grove. Lambton EMS offers land ambulance services to the residents of Sarnia-Lambton. In 2003 staff responded to 22, 000 calls for medical assistance.
For more information about Lambton County, visit www.lambtononline.ca.
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Contact:
Steve Van Valkenburg
Manager, Lambton Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
County of Lambton
Telephone: (519) 882-1470 ext. 241
Fax: (519) 882-3600
email: steve.vanvalkenburg@county-lambton.on.ca
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