Military medic Seymour Warrian held the first meeting of the City Ambulance Transport Brigade on 12 September of that year.

Queensland's first ambulance station operated out of the Brisbane Newspaper Company building; the first officers possessed a stretcher, but no vehicle, and so transported patients on foot.

While QAS originally operated under the banner of the Department of Emergency Services, in 2009 the Queensland Government restructured the organisational hierarchy and appointed new ministers.

The office also responsible for QAS Policy on Staff Health and Wellbeing and setting medical priorities for ambulance resource dispatch.

[12] ACPs are competent in many emergency medical skills, including airway management (oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway, oropharyngeal suctioning, laryngoscopy and Magill's forceps, laryngeal mask airway, intermittent positive pressure ventilation), cardiac management (cardiac monitoring – basic ECG interpretation and 12-lead ECG, manual defibrillation), drug/fluid administration (intramuscular injection, intravenous cannulation, fluid replacement), and the administration of basic and advanced drugs (aspirin, glucose, glyceryl trinitrate, adrenaline, morphine, fentanyl, etc.).

CCP pods operate around the state, focused on metropolitan, major regional centers, or where a rescue helicopter is located.

CCPs are competent in all ACP procedures, as well as advanced emergency medical skills, such as endotracheal intubation, synchronised cardioversion, transcutaneous cardiac pacing, continuous positive airway pressure ventilation CPAP, decompression of tension pneumothorax, extra-jugular venous cannulation, procedural sedation (midazolam, ketamine, and droperidol.

As of 2018, there are HARU units located at Brisbane and the Gold Coast[10][13] The most common metropolitan ambulance are the Mercedes Benz Sprinters.

Additionally, two stretcher Mercedes 519 acute ambulances operate around the state by ACP and CCPs, particularly in regional and rural areas.

Critical care paramedics (formerly known as ICPs) and station OIC's now often drive Isuzu MUX's (formerly using Hyundai Santa Fe's and Subaru Foresters).

A station's officer in charge (OIC) or area supervisors often use dual-cab Utes, serving a similar purpose to other fast response vehicles.

Helicopters staffed with both a QAS Critical Care Paramedic AND Flight Doctor also have the option to respond to incidents via road in the CCP's response vehicle if necessary.

From 2003, the service was funded by the Community Ambulance Cover scheme, a levy added to all customers of electricity retailers in Queensland.

Within the Queensland Ambulance Service, operational ranks refer more to the scope of practice that they are legally able to perform, rather than a chain of command hierarchy.

With the exception of the medical officer role, any rank higher than Critical Care Paramedic no longer has additional skills, and therefore does follow a chain of command hierarchy.