Adding a second storey to Sarnia's ambulance station on George Street is being explored as the facility's future is assessed.
Lambton County Emergency Medical Services Manager Steve Pancino said at some point the building, at 373 George Street, will outgrow its useful life as a main base.
"Certain things just weren't considered 30 years ago when these buildings were built, versus if you're to look at newer structures now and what's included in a modern day paramedic station, dedicated decontamination areas, dedicated storage areas, updated crew quarters, that sort of thing," said Pancino.
He said the building's footprint was reviewed again when the pandemic hit to ensure accessibility and physical distancing were adequate.
"Certainly when COVID happened, we obviously took a closer look at those issues, as well as general staffing issues and really there was nothing that we haven't known about for a little bit of time, but it's really just accelerated the timeline with which we're now forced to look at these things."
The crew quarters are limited and currently only five staff members are allowed in the 380 square foot space at any given time.
"We are landlocked right now," said Pancino. "That is the lot that we own and there are not options to build out, unless you are potentially procuring new lands. So, that's what was the purpose of this report was just to say we're starting to look. There's options of building up, there would be options of moving stations, there'd be the option of building new stations, there would be any myriad of options out there. This is just the starting point. Let's look at what we currently have."
Pancino said they've hired an engineering firm to determine if adding a second storey is a viable option.
Lambton EMS currently operates ten ambulances from nine stations.
