The proposal will be put at a meeting on September 26, at the Tocumwal Memorial Hall at 6:30pm.
The development of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) service has been proposed as a way forward, while discussions regarding a permanent ambulance station in the town continue.
Locals have long argued that as the growth centre of Berrigan Shire, and a community which doubles in size during peak tourism periods, Tocumwal requires its own ambulance service and paramedics.
Currently, the community relies on paramedics from surrounding communities like Finley and Berrigan.
Tocumwal’s NSW Fire + Rescue firefighters have been trained as first responders to provide emergency response.
While valued, locals believe the community requires both services.
But with NSW Ambulance suggesting Tocumwal was “not identified as a priority location, relative to other areas in service planning completed by New South Wales Ambulance in 2023”, the short-term option of a CERT was discussed when its representatives came to Tocumwal last month.
Following that meeting, Berrigan Shire Mayor Julia Cornwell McKean said it would require volunteers from the community, and it would be a complementary service to services already available to the community.
“We believe it is a great way forward in the short term, but we will not allow the ambulance station for Tocumwal to be taken off the table,” she said last month.
“Even if we did get a commitment for the station now, it would take up to five years to build.
“We needed something now, which the CERT service may fulfil, while we work toward our future needs.”
The current push for an ambulance station was re-instigated in 2020 after advocacy from the Tocumwal Ambulance Steering Committee.
Its chair Marie Farrell said if formed, CERT would work alongside the town’s existing first responders.
“Our first responders will not be out of a job because of this,” she said.
“This process is something we are going to have to go through.
“We hope to up-skill and train as many community members as possible”
“And we will be hoping to draw in as many interested parties as possible on the night, as the success of the CERT is all dependent on volunteers.”
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