Ambulance service
The team at St John WA prides itself on providing a high-quality, cost-effective ambulance services across Western Australia.
For more than 20 years the Productivity Commission annual figures have shown St John WA delivers the lowest cost to Government per head of population in Australia, and has among the most timely emergency response.
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St John WA ambulance service
St John has operated the WA emergency ambulance service for more than a century.We pride ourselves on our performance and continual improvement for the community.
Over 280k calls yearly
We answer 87% of emergency calls in under 10 seconds. The fastest rate in the country.
2nd fastest response rate
The second fastest emergency response rate in the country, while covering the largest area.
Over 95% satisfaction
West Australians are more than satisfied with their state ambulance service.
Key information
288,000 Triple Zero (000) calls and 140,000 Priority 1 responses in FY 21-22
A team of about 2000 staff and 6000 volunteers
Metropolitan ambulance service
Paramedics and patient transport officers work from 30 stations provide emergency and non-emergency support within the Perth metropolitan area.
The stations are staffed 24 hours a day by dedicated first responders. Four day-ambulance locations provide additional support to our network.
The Newborn Emergency Transport Service is a joint initiative with Perth Children’s Hospital and is staffed by a rotating St John Ambulance crew from 7.30am to midnight on weekdays. The service is available outside of those hours if it is needed.
Country ambulance service
A team of more than 3200 people support Triple Zero (000) call-outs from 160 St John response locations across an ambulance footprint of 2.6 million km or about one third of the Australian landmass. The team travels more than two million kilometres each year to provide transport and health services to more than 64,000 people.
There is no other ambulance service in the world that services an area this big.
Sub centres
St John Ambulance sub centres are responsible for the delivery of ambulance services to their communities.
More than 100 sub centre committees manage operations on behalf of St John Ambulance WA and are fully volunteer run, and regional centres have a mix of volunteer ambulance officers and career paramedics working side-by-side.
In larger country areas where the population and ambulance call outs are high, career paramedics work with volunteer officers to provide the service. These locations are in Albany, Australind, Broome, Bunbury, Busselton, Collie, Dawesville, Geraldton, Hedland, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha, Kununurra, Northam, Norseman and Pinjarra, with more locations to transition to this model in the future.
In all country areas, St John provides the infrastructure to support ambulance services. This includes the provision of ambulances, equipment, buildings, training for volunteers and support for regional managers.
Regional offices are staffed by a regional manager and four coordinators to provide operational and administrative support for all sub centres in the regions. A team of community paramedics also provide training, clinical and operational support for volunteer-run sub centres.
Country Ambulance Benefit Fund
For those who reside in regional or remote Western Australia, you may be eligible to join a Country Ambulance Benefit Fund which will cover the cost of your ambulance service.
Pensioner ambulance service
WA residents over the age of 65 years old who hold a valid pension with Pension Concession Entitlement are entitled to free ambulance services when the service is medically necessary. The exception to this is a transfer between hospitals where one or both is a private hospital.