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About QAS

Our History

Ambulance services in Queensland began in 1892. On September 12 of that year the first meeting of the City Ambulance Transport Brigade was held.

Military medic Seymour Warrian formed the brigade following an event he witnessed at the Brisbane showgrounds during Show Week in 1892.

A horse rider fell and broke his leg and bystanders walked the rider from the field, seriously worsening his injury.

The first ambulance station in Queensland operated out of the Brisbane Newspaper Company and officers on night duty slept on rolls of newspaper on the floor. They had a stretcher, but no vehicle and transported patients on foot.


Organisation

The service as we know it today was formed on July 1, 1991 when 96 individual Queensland Ambulance Service Transport Brigades (QATB) amalgamated into one organisation. Queensland Ambulance Service.

The result is an ambulance service that is the fourth largest in the world.

Queensland Ambulance Service leads the country in clinical care and paramedic training and is among the best in the world in providing state-of-the-art emergency care.

Together with the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and Counter Disaster and Rescue Services, the Queensland Ambulance Service is a part of the Department of Emergency Services.


Service Delivery

The Queensland Ambulance Service delivers services to the public from more than 260 ambulance response locations across the State which are organised into seven regions, and are supported by a Central office located at the Kedron Park Emergency Services Facility in Brisbane, Australia.


Our People

Our people are the driving force behind the success of the Queensland Ambulance Service. This includes our permanent staff, the 1500 volunteers on our Local Ambulance Committees and around 350 Honorary Ambulance Officers.

We are proud of our achievements and continue to encourage best practice both out in the field and in office workplaces. Listed here are the most prominent awards received by QAS in recent years:

Approximately 8000 individual awards have also been made at a state level since the first of July 1991 with over 20 decorations including the Order of Australia, bravery awards and the Ambulance Service Medal bestowed by the Governor-General, and 13 Humanitarian Overseas Service Medals. Added to this are numerous regional and local awards to QAS personnel.


Education and Training

All QAS training and development is coordinated and managed by the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy (QCESA) School of Ambulance and Paramedic Studies. The school is located in the Department of Emergency Services offices at Lutwyche Centro Shopping Centre in Brisbane, Queensland. QCESA provides excellence in clinical education and development programs.

All education programs adopt nationally recognised competency standards and are comprised of the most up to date training content in Australia and the South East Asian region.


Community Ambulance Cover

Community Ambulance Cover (CAC) replaced the Queensland Ambulance Subscription Scheme and ambulance transport charges on the 1st of July 2003. Quite simply CAC means all Queensland residents are automatically covered for the cost of ambulance transportation anywhere, anytime, across Australia.

Community Ambulance Cover gives certainty of funding to the Queensland Ambulance Service by spreading the cost across the community. A charge of 28.134 cents a day, or $102.69 a year, will apply to each electricity sale arrangement unless an exemption has been obtained.

Community Ambulance Cover is not a ‘user-pays’ system for ambulance services. No Matter who pays for the electricity supplied to your business or household, every Queenslander is automatically covered for the cost of ambulance services nationwide.

For more information on CAC click here.


Community Education

QAS has been providing first aid training to Queenslanders for over 100 years. This includes Courses in First Aid and Injury Prevention and sales of first aid kits, resuscitation masks and other items.

QAS co-ordinates a Baby Capsule Hire service for the community, and ambulance staff are fully trained to fit capsules so that babies are safe and comfortable.

Aeromedical

QAS coordinates the delivery of aeromedical cases throughout Queensland. Service providers include the Royal Flying Doctor Service, DES fixed wing and helicopter services, community based rescue helicopter services and QAS fixed wing aircraft.


Just the Facts - Statistics for 2005/2006

During 2005/2006 QAS employed approximately 2,780 paramedics.
The Total number of cases handled was 746,275 including:


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