The recent purchase of property in Hillside Road, Dunedin will see an additional St John ambulance station open in early 2010.

Different locations have been trialled over the last 12 months. Following extensive trials and simulations, it has become clear that locating the ambulance station in Hillside Road will help St John improve its response times to emergency callouts by 10%, helping achieve better patient outcomes.

St John Southern Region General Manager Gary Williams says having an ambulance station in the South Dunedin area will be of significant benefit to the community.

“We are extremely pleased with the results that have been generated following the trials,” says Mr Williams.

“It is one of the guiding principles of St John that we aim to provide the best possible care for our patients, and improving our response times is one way we can achieve this.”

The planning of the new ambulance station is underway, and it is expected to be operational in March 2010. The station will take its place in history, incorporating a proud heritage of being based in a similar location to that of the St John Hillside Railway Division. This was an ambulance division which existed for just over 80 years in South Dunedin.