Orange County recently celebrated the opening of its first purpose-built EMS facility. Located in Efland, the new station plans to improve both crew efficiency and the comfort of emergency medical service providers.
On June 18, Orange County EMS providers, elected officials, and community members gathered at the completed EMS Station 4 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. EMS Division Chief Kim Woodward opened the event by thanking the designers, contractors, and county staff involved in the three-year building process for the new station and medical examiner’s office.
“We couldn’t have done this without this amazing team,” Woodward said. “It takes a village to build a station as beautiful as this. It takes support from our elected officials and our county manager.”
The facility is a significant upgrade from what the county has been using as a station for four decades. As the county’s first EMS station, Orange County EMS Director Kirby Saunders said the former space is a “legacy,” but it lacked comfort and privacy for providers. For example, it only had one room for a kitchen, bunkroom, and dayroom, and the ambulance did not fit in its small garage space…