News Release
For Immediate Release
February 16th, 2011

Ambulance New Brunswick Opens New Station in Petitcodiac

PETITCODIAC, NB – Ambulance New Brunswick’s new Petitcodiac station is now officially open. Ambulance New Brunswick’s President and CEO, Alan Stephen was joined by Petitcodiac MLA, Sherry Wilson (representing the Honourable Madeleine Dubé, Minister of Health) and Mr. Peter Saunders, Mayor of Petitcodiac at the official opening ceremony.

“Since our creation in December 2007, we have been committed to providing our paramedics, flight nurses and emergency medical dispatchers with the best tools and facilities possible so they can provide a world class service to New Brunswickers. Today in Petitcodiac, we are reconfirming that commitment” said Mr. Stephen.

“Eight station grand openings have been held in the past 12 months (Florenceville-Bristol, Cap-Pelé, Fredericton, Boiestown, Belledune, Tracadie-Sheila, and Stanley)” added Mr. Stephen. In the upcoming months, we look forward to adding Kingston, Harvey, Hartland and St-Léonard to this list.”

“Ambulance New Brunswick employees are dedicated professionals who are often the first point of contact for New Brunswickers requiring care in an emergency situation. I am confident both paramedics and residents of the Petitcodiac region will be well served by this new facility,” said Health Minister Madeleine Dubé. “I look forward to continuing to work with all of our partners, including Ambulance New Brunswick, in building a sustainable health-care system for all New Brunswickers.”

The new station in Petitcodiac is an ICF (insulated concrete forms) construction and is resistant to hurricane-force winds and seismic loads. The building has in-floor heating throughout. Furthermore, the exhaust system in the one bay garage is ultra modern as it removes both vehicle exhaust fumes and garage humidity automatically. The garage also has an NO2 detector system which will make an audible alarm warning if exhaust fumes get too high.

“Today marks a great occasion for the Village of Petitcodiac. We can clearly see that Ambulance New Brunswick is here to stay in our village to better serve people in need of health services in Petitcodiac and the surrounding areas. Thank you to Ambulance New Brunswick for choosing to stay in the Village of Petitcodiac and building this wonderful new facility” said Mr. Saunders.

Ambulance New Brunswick was created by the Government of New Brunswick in December 2007 to deliver a world-class land, air and emergency dispatch ambulance service throughout the province. Today, Ambulance New Brunswick has more than 900 paramedics stationed across the province. Every year, they respond to approximately 100,000 calls. The air ambulance service performs more than 700 emergency calls every year and flies nearly 600,000 kilometres transporting sick and injured patients to specialized hospital care across the Maritimes and as far as Toronto, London and Montreal.

- 30 -

Media contact:
Sophie Cormier-Lalonde
External Communications Officer
Ambulance New Brunswick
506-872-6579
sophie.cormier-lalonde@smunbems.ca