History
The first recognised ambulance service in New South Wales, known as the Civil Ambulance and Transport Brigade, began on 1 April 1895, however this was pre-dated by the NSW Government Railway Ambulance and First Aid Corps which was set up by Railway Commissioner Goodchap in 1885. The first civil ambulance station was a borrowed police station in Railway Square in Sydney staffed by two permanent officers. Patients were transported on hand-held stretchers and handlitters.
The Brigade was a dedicated community based organisation, operating the first horsedrawn ambulance in 1899 and first motor vehicle in 1912, both donated to the Brigade by the public. Radio controlled vehicles commenced operation in 1937, a rescue service in 1941, a training school in 1961 and air ambulance in 1967. Advanced life support and intensive care vehicles were introduced in 1976.
Prior to 1976, the Service was known as the NSW Ambulance Transport Service Board, and it was not funded by the NSW State Government, but was self-reliant, with Ambulance Officers having to conduct regular fundraising activities usually weekly and sign people up to Ambulance subscriptions. Many people who would otherwise attend their local doctor in recent times, would attend an Ambulance station for treatment for minor injuries as it did not cost them anything.
Read more about this topic: Ambulance Service Of New South Wales
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.”
—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)