[Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council.

  • Staffordshire (England). County Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / Medical Officer of Health, Staffordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    42/182 (page 40)
    The building of the County Ambulance Service Headquarters was completed during the year and came into operation on 23rd August, 1969. The headquarters incorporates the County Ambulance Control—replacing three divisional controls that operated from Stafford, Lichfield and Newcastle Ambulance Stations, the Stafford Ambulance Station, the Ambulance Service Training School, the divisional maintenance sections and the County Ambulance Service administrative offices. The new premises serve as the Ambulance Station for the Borough of Stafford and adjacent area , joi i ing up with the Cannock, Rugeley and Stone Ambulance Stations to constitute the Central Division of the County Ambulance Service. This station in the County Town is the last one to be replaced of all the original stations and the opportunity has been taken to incor¬ porate all the features found to be the best in other stations. The advances in radio and telex communications have made it pos¬ sible to have one central control which enables the Ambulance Service fleet and crews to be more easily diverted when the need arises and accor¬ ding to demand in any part of the County, especially in the case of multiple crashes and emergencies. The changes have also achieved an increased efficiency in the Service as a whole. The introduction of the new system was however associated with some difficulty in the operation of the County Control, due mainly to faults on telephone and radio services plus some inexperience of the officers and staff in the control room. However after a short period these troubles were overcome and the control is functioning as planned and is proving to be a very efficient unit of the County Am¬ bulance Service. The changes in the control of the Service has meant major changes in the staffing of the 24 hour stations at Newcastle, Lichfield and Stafford as the supervisory staff at these stations, prior to the change over, were employed on control duties and following the establishment of the new County Control had to be redeployed. The Stafford Ambulance Station, maintenance section. Training School and the Administrative Section are operating satisfactorily in the new headquarters, all members of the staff being extremely pleased with the facilities provided. The training of Ambulance staff has continued throughout the year, following the Department of Health and Social Security recommended courses for Ambulance Personnel. Vehicle replacements have taken place in accordance with the County policy of replacing vehicles every five years. Major change in vehicle policy being the introduction of chassis incorporating automatic trans¬ mission which should prove beneficial to fleet maintenance. During 1969 19 vehicles have been replaced by Ford chassis with Lomas bodies, some of which have been built in all fibre glass as an experiment in ambulance body building with the view to improving the standard of the vehicles in service. The vehicle maintenance is carried out by County Ambulance Service mechanics in the Service’s own workshops situated at County Ambulance Stations.