The excellence in medical care and dedication to providing the best emergency service possible is highlighted in the humble beginnings of the Queensland Ambulance Service.
It was the military medic Seymour Warrian who first called for a public meeting in Brisbane with the goals of establishing the first Queensland ambulance service. He was spurred after witnessing some well intentioned, but ill-advised bystanders go to the aid of a horse rider who had fallen off and broken his leg. Their efforts to escort the rider off the field only worsened his injuries and served as a sharp example of the need for properly trained medical attendants and transporters – know today as paramedics. On September 12, 1892, the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB) began.
For the next one hundred years the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB) was driven by the very same passion that led Seymour Warrian to establish it. The QATB grew rapidly from the early days when the first officers would take night duty sleeping on rolls of newspaper spread out across the floor of the Brisbane Newspaper Company. By 1991 there were over 90 community run QATB Queensland ambulance service centres throughout the state.
It was in 1991 that the QATB merged with dozens of additional emergency response centres to become what it is now known today – the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). There is probably no greater example of a state ambulance service success story like the QAS. Today it is a beacon of light and a model for quality health care not only within the great country of Australia, but also the world.
If you would like to learn more about becoming a paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service, you will find all that you need to know here – Becoming a Paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service.