By Aneeka Simonis
GHOSTS are rumoured to lurk in rooms at the Pakenham Ambulance Station – but not for much longer.
The unit is pushing ahead with the second stage of its $1.4 million relocation project, with the front part of the Main Street site, or garage area, expected to be bulldozed in the coming days.
However, ambos have already been given part access to their brand-new site.
From Thursday 18 August, the station’s two ambulance trucks set up their freshly painted home in the spacious new garage – putting an end to the difficult manoeuvring work required of paramedics as they set out to emergency scenes from their former cramped garage.
“We have a very patient neighbour. Their fence has copped it a lot of times,” quipped paramedic Mark McCready as he pointed at the dings in the fence and outer corner of the unit’s own garage.
The move will be bittersweet for the 34 ambos that operate out of the site established in the late 1960s.
Acting team manager Mick Carroll fondly described the current quarters as a “home away from home” for many over the years, but admitted security will be hugely improved at the new headquarters.
The new site will be electronic accessible only – a significant upgrade on the current site which enables anyone to walk up and into the site.
It will also provide better rest facilities, improving fatigue management at the site servicing emergency care patients around the clock in Pakenham and Officer.
Like many old buildings, Pakenham Ambulance Station certainly has a colourful, or spooky, history of its own.
Mick said paramedics attempting to catch a little shut-eye during overnight shifts swear they have seen ghosts in one of the bedrooms.
“Someone won’t sleep in the very back room on the left hand side. There have been multiple stories,” he said.
It would be no surprise to them if ghosts from the past exist among them.
Mark explained bodies used to be brought back to the station awaiting transfer to the Coroners in the city a long time ago.
Pakenham Ambulance Station was for a long time manned by a single paramedic, the late John McMillan.
He moved in with his wife Merle in 1967 and was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week; except for a few hours on Monday afternoons for many years.
Though it’s all set to go – one thing will remain.
The ambulance station’s prized Camellia Tree.
“It was a priority for it to stay. It’s a bit of a landmark,” said Mick of the tree which sits just out the front of the ambulance headquarters.
Construction will begin once the garage site has been bulldozed. Paramedics will remain in their current headquarters until construction is complete. The current site will then be turned into a carpark as part of the project’s third and final stage.
Paramedics attend to about 560 patients on average each month.
