Two new look ambulances for Sunshine Coast

Two brand new ambulance vehicles are being delivered to the Sunshine Coast, Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said today.

Mr Roberts said two new Queensland Ambulance Service emergency response vehicles (ERV) would be delivered to ambulance stations at Maroochydore and Caloundra.

The ERV is a sedan used by intensive care paramedics and officers-in-charge to attend incidents as quickly as possible. The vehicles are not used for transport patients.

Mr Roberts said the new vehicles were part of the latest batch of vehicles being delivered across the State.

"The new vehicles are part of the $15.7 million commitment of 140 new vehicles announced in this year's budget, which includes around 100 replacement vehicles," he said.

Mr Roberts said the new ERV featured the new livery of the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) complete with high visibility markings.

“The new livery is designed to improve safety for paramedics and the general public,” Mr Roberts said.

"This new highly visible design will be applied to QAS vehicles to help improve driver recognition when ambulances drive under emergency conditions."

He said the change is in line with the latest international best practice for emergency vehicle safety and followed extensive research by the QAS.

"This research found the most effective colours for retro-reflective lights were fluorescents including yellow and green," Mr Roberts said.

"These are colours that rarely occur in nature and have maximum stand-out effect in low light and darkness."

Mr Roberts said the new markings will be applied to newly commissioned vehicles, with the old livery to be phased out as vehicles are decommissioned.

Media contact: Kirby Anderson 3247 8194 or 0418 197 350