There was no such thing as 'off-duty' for a small town paramedic 40-odd years ago, with Mr Carey responding to call-outs 24/7, often for no additional pay.

"I delivered a baby and brought a person back from the dead all on my day off," he told those gathered for the opening of Kiama's new ambulance station on Tuesday.

"On your day off if you were around you just hopped in an ambulance and went.

"I even went to an accident barefooted and in just a pair of shorts. I cleared the airway and the patient started breathing."

Mr Carey was one of just a few of those gathered for the official opening who also attended the opening of the previous station almost half a century ago.

"When the old ambulance station was opened we had two ambulances and a staff of two," he said.

"Things were different in those days. Any new ambulance station had to have an open entry where you could get an ambulance out in the event of a mechanical failure and the door could not be opened.

"You had to leave the key in the ignition and ambulances could not be locked. The petrol tank had to be full until it run over onto the ground."

Both he and his station officer were married to trained nurses who were also called upon in times of need.

"Both wives were unpaid helpers. They gave a hand out in the casualty room. Everything from handing out a couple of aspirin to dressing small wounds," Mr Carey said. "The wives operated the telephones and two-way radio base station. They took money for subscriptions to the ambulance fund.

"They never received a cent for their work but that was part of the love for the community."

Times had changed said Mr Carey as he took a look through the new station.

"Back in the day there was only one person manning an ambulance. I say 'manning' as females were not considered strong enough to be ambulance officers," he said.

"If you needed help, you just parked over the road and stopped traffic, or if there was no traffic you pulled the siren on and people came running.

"We've come a long way since, and now we move on to this beautiful new complex and start a new era."

The new $5 million station on Terralong Street has been built alongside Fire & Rescue NSW and SES facilities, and close to Kiama Police Station.

Kiama MP Gareth Ward said it now completed the town's "emergency services precinct".

"One of the key recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Victorian bushfires, and one that all governments took notice of, was the need to co-locate emergency services in a precinct, and that's what we have here," he said.

"This consolidation of emergency services means that in times of crisis there is better collaboration and co-ordination between services."

NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan helped officially open the new station, which is part of the NSW Government’s $122 million Rural Ambulance Infrastructure Reconfiguration Program. 

With covered parking for four ambulance vehicles, the station also features staff parking, a kitchen, wash bay, lounge and change rooms with areas for logistics, storage, office and administrative use.

"This new station gives paramedics a purpose-built facility which allows them to prepare and train for medical emergencies," Mr Morgan said.

"And because they've got the right facilities, the right training and the right environment, they can keep their skills up without having to travel to Sydney or other regional centres for training.

"Not only is it important from a training perspective, it's also important to have the right infrastructure to keep vehicles and clinical treatment areas maintained to a high standard."

Local paramedics were involved in the design of the station which was built by Health Infrastructure NSW.