HAPPY: Lee Anderson, Peter Dafel, Craig Baumann, Ambulance NSW zone manager Kerry Akester and Gordon Grainger.
TWO new paramedics are set to be stationed at Tea Gardens Ambulance Station by August this year, upping staff numbers from five to seven.
Late last year close to 800 people attended a protest meeting in Tea Gardens to voice concerns about delayed ambulance response times.
Following this a group of residents formed a task force to address concerns about ambulances being called to jobs in areas from as far away as Newcastle.
This seemed to occur when Tea Gardens paramedics were tied up with other jobs or when on-duty paramedics from further afield were contacted instead of local, on-call paramedics who already worked long hours.
Task force chairman Trevor Cook said learning of the news late last week was "great" and really showed what the community could achieve when they put their mind to it.
Task force member Lee Anderson said the group thanked Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann for his "lobbying" and "tenacity" in pushing for this change.
"We are only as strong as our local member," she said.
"We would like to thank Craig."
Mr Baumann said a bigger team of paramedics was so important in this "isolated and ageing community".
"It will make life a lot easier for people," he said.
After discussions with the task force Mr Baumann said he asked the Ambulance Service to do a full review of the area.
Mr Baumann said the process of recruiting officers and finalising the roster was now taking place.
A formal public meeting to thank Mr Baumann for his efforts and to hand out information on what to do in a health emergency is set to take place in the coming months.