Jonathan Ormond says he’s found ‘home, sweet home’ at Gatton Ambulance Station.
The new officer in charge transferred to Gatton in January 2024 after moving to Mount Tarampa in early 2023.
Mr Ormond said he had a great deal of experience with the Queensland Ambulance Service.
“I started with Queensland Ambulance in 2009 at Centenary Ambulance Station, in the Oxley area,” he said.
“Then I worked across a number of different stations across that area and I worked in quite a few different roles ranging from on-road paramedic to acting operations supervisor and acting officer in charge.
“Then I got permanently appointed as the OIC of Sarina Station [south of Mackay] in 2020.
“In 2022 I was permanently appointed to Woodford Station as OIC.
“I moved out to Mt Tarampa, that was a little over a year ago now and it was a very long commute [to Woodford], so I applied for a transfer and was very fortunate to get the transfer out to Gattons Station.”
The Gatton community and the station’s staff welcomed their new Mr Ormond.
“One of the nice things about Gatton I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is there is much more of a sense of community here, because the population’s not as transient as it was up in the Woodford area,” he said.
Mr Ormond said the staff seemed grateful to have a permanent OIC.
“This position had a short period of time where they didn’t have a permanently appointed supervisor here, so I think they were grateful to have someone come in that was wanting to stay and work in the area,” he said.
“We’re a smaller station at Gatton, we have about 20 staff and it’s a really good mix here of new staff and staff with many years of experience.”
Mr Ormond had some requests for the community to ensure the Ambulance could operate effectively.
“With rural areas, it can be really difficult locating properties at times,” he said.
“If I’m going to ask anything of the community out there, having good signage on your property so that we can find it actually makes a really big difference.”
He also advised against visiting the station when seeking help.
“People used to do that, it was a common practice many years ago, stations would have treatment rooms inside the station,” Mr Ormond said.
“With the nature of the Ambulance, as it is these days, often ambulance stations don’t actually have anyone there – they’ll be out and about looking after patients and jobs.
“If you ever need an ambulance, the safest thing to do is to phone 000.”
Mr Ormond said the station had good coverage for the region.
“We have five vehicles and we run a day, afternoon and night shift every day of the week – it’s a 24 hour station,” he said.
“We’re really lucky we have a good relationship with Gatton Hospital, they’re very supportive of the station.
“We also have access to the aeromedical response as well, and we’ll do that when it is required.”
Mr Ormond strongly encouraged the community to join the Local Ambulance Committee.
“They do really great work with volunteering in our community, they run a lot of education things for the Queensland Ambulance Service, things like CPR awareness,” he said.
“It’s nice to get some benefit as well yourself, and volunteering for thinks like ambulance can be looked on really favourable when people are applying for jobs and putting out resumes.”
