THE Loddon-Mallee region has had more paramedic callouts as demand increased sharply over the winter months.
Ambulance Victoria said the fourth quarter of the 2022-23 period was its third-busiest on record, with an increase of 5.5 per cent in ambulance responses compared to the previous quarter.
Ambulance Victoria Loddon-Mallee director of regional and clinical operations Stuart Reid said winter was always a busy time.
“Every winter we see demand rise, and this year is still challenging as COVID-19 and influenza spreads and more staff are furloughed due to illness,” Mr Reid said.
“April to June saw ambulances called to 97,509 code 1 cases statewide, which is more than 5000 additional lights-and-sirens cases compared to the previous three months.
“This is a huge 29.3 per cent increase from 75,398 code 1 cases five years ago, before the pandemic hit.
“This winter we again urge you to help our paramedics, first responders and hospitals by saving 000 for emergencies and accessing alternative care options which can better meet your needs.”
The increase in alternative care options plays an important role in Ambulance Victoria lowering its average response time target of 15 minutes, with 61.7 per cent of code 1 emergencies meeting the target.
The Swan Hill local government area had an improvement in response time, with the average time to respond to code 1 patients dropping from 17 minutes, 21 seconds to 15 minutes, 49 seconds.
Ambulance Victoria executive director of clinical operations Anthony Carlyon said the evolving nature of health care enabled patients to receive appropriate care without the need for lights and sirens.
“While ambulances are always provided to patients when required, from April to June 38,994 people who did not need an emergency ambulance were instead connected by paramedics and nurses in our secondary triage team to more appropriate care,” he said.
“For less urgent cases, we’ve tripled the size of our secondary triage team and have referred more than 40,000 patients to the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department since October 2021 to help avoid unnecessary trips to our hospitals where safe and appropriate.
“Ambulance Victoria has recruited 118 new graduate paramedics in the past month alone, with nine of those being located in the Loddon-Mallee area.”
Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh said in the few response categories that had improved, the changes were minimal, and they were already at “totally unacceptable” levels.
“I get we are in regional Victoria, but the areas our hard-working ambos are now being asked to cover are ridiculous,” Mr Walsh said.
“One of my Echuca constituents, a 73-year-old woman, had collapsed in extreme pain at her home, and could not be raised from the floor by her husband, who does not drive.
“They live 1km from the hospital and had to wait more than 80 minutes for an ambulance to arrive – from Bendigo.
“Thanks heavens she survived, despite the absolute breakdown of the system and its failure to protect the people of Victoria.”
