Viv Lewis on Geelong’s pioneering ambulance service

A gathering of 35 members and guests enjoyed one of the most memorable presentations of our 2026 program when Viv Lewis delivered a lively, deeply researched and unexpectedly personal account of Geelong’s pioneering role in the development of ambulance services in Victoria and Australia.

Her talk began as a meticulously documented history, but as the evening unfolded, Viv gradually revealed the personal thread woven through the narrative: Superintendent Allan M. Cumming, the central figure in the story, was her father. This revelation transformed the presentation from an impressive historical survey into a moving, first‑hand portrait of the man who shaped Geelong’s ambulance service and, in many ways, the modern ambulance system in Australia.

Viv opened by situating Geelong’s place in ambulance history. After World War II, Geelong became, as she noted, “the first Victorian regional professional ambulance service outside Melbourne”. She traced the origins of ambulance practice back to the Latin ambulare — to walk — and illustrated early methods of patient transport with images of the Ashford Litter and Geelong’s first horse‑drawn ambulance of 1907. These early examples set the stage for the extraordinary period of innovation that followed under her father’s leadership.

One of the most engaging aspects of the evening was Viv’s description of her childhood spent inside the Yarra Street ambulance station, the first purpose‑built ambulance station in Geelong. The earlier Argyle Street premises had been an old stable opposite the hospital, but the Yarra Street building, opened on 13 May 1952, was designed specifically for ambulance operations. Viv lived there from the age of five until eighteen, giving her a unique vantage point on the service’s evolution. She spoke warmly of the rhythm of life in the station; the sound of ambulances heading out at all hours, the camaraderie among officers, and the constant sense of readiness that permeated the building. These memories provided a rare human dimension to the story, revealing not just how the service operated but how it felt to live at its heart.

As Viv guided the audience through the service’s rapid development in the late 1940s and early 1950s, she described the major public fundraising appeal of October 1947, the introduction of a subscriber contribution scheme — “10 shillings a year covered contributor, family and dependants” — and the establishment of branch and holiday stations across the region, from Werribee to Queenscliff, Barwon Heads, Anglesea, Apollo Bay, Lorne and Colac. Each milestone was enriched by her personal recollections of the people involved and the atmosphere of dedication that characterised the service.

A particularly compelling part of Viv’s presentation concerned her father’s commitment to professional standards and training. She explained that Allan Cumming recognised early that the future of ambulance work depended on properly trained officers, not simply willing drivers. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he worked closely with Gippsland GP Dr Ric Bouvier to create the first structured syllabus for ambulance officer training in Victoria. Together they developed a curriculum that combined medical instruction, practical skills, and disciplined fieldwork, a model that had not previously existed in Australia.

Their collaboration led to the establishment of the first residential Ambulance Officers Training School, held in Geelong in September 1961. Viv showed a photograph of the inaugural course, noting that this was not only the first in Australia but very likely the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The residential format, the breadth of the syllabus, and the emphasis on professional standards laid the foundations for statewide training programs and, in time, the first ambulance officer degree courses.

Viv also described the remarkable technical innovations introduced during her father’s tenure. Geelong developed new ambulance designs from 1947 onward, administered Trilene pain‑killing gas for the first time in Australia in 1949, introduced resuscitation apparatus into vehicles in 1950, and installed two‑way radios in 1953, which was the first in Victoria. She quoted the Geelong Advertiser’s proud description of the 1953 Customline ambulance as “Designed and made in Geelong”, and then added a detail that delighted the audience: those early custom ambulances were literally built by her father in the garages behind the Yarra Street station. Viv recalled the smell of paint and metal, the clatter of tools, and the sense of excitement that surrounded each new vehicle taking shape only metres from the family’s back door.

However, as demand grew and the Hospitals and Charities Commission approved Geelong to build two ambulances per month for other services, it became clear that the small station garages could no longer keep up. Viv recounted how her father purchased land near International Harvester and established a dedicated workshop where custom ambulances were built not only for Victoria but for customers across Australia and even Southeast Asia. This expansion marked the beginning of what later became the Bodycraft era, during which Geelong-built ambulances were exported internationally and influenced vehicle design as far away as Britain.

The presentation concluded with a photograph of Allan Cumming from around 1970 and a quotation from the Geelong Advertiser describing him as “… the man many regard as the father of Australia’s modern day ambulance service.” It was a fitting tribute to a man whose influence extended far beyond Geelong, and whose legacy Viv conveyed with both affection and clarity.

The audience responded warmly to the combination of rigorous historical research and heartfelt personal insight. Viv’s presentation offered not only a detailed account of Geelong’s pioneering ambulance service but also a moving portrait of the man who shaped it, seen through the eyes of someone who lived the story from within. The Society extends its sincere thanks to Viv Lewis for a memorable, generous and beautifully delivered presentation.