AMBULANCE Victoria continues to see record demand responding to more than 100,000 seriously ill people in a three-month period for the first time ever.
Ambulance Victoria Gippsland Regional Director Jerome Peyton said ambulance responses for the second quarter of 2022/23 were impacted by soaring demand, sicker patients, and staff furloughing due to COVID-19.
“Across the state, October to December was the busiest quarter in Ambulance Victoria’s history with paramedics called to a record 100,234 Code 1 cases,” Mr Peyton said.
“In the face of this record demand and the impacts of COVID-19 on our lives, our dedicated paramedics in the Gippsland Region continue to do an amazing job delivering world-class care to our patients.”
AV has two official response time targets, with paramedics aiming to respond to Code 1 incidents within 15 minutes for 85% of incidents state-wide.
While for centres with populations greater than 7500, the target is 15 minutes for 90 per cent of incidents.
In Bass Coast, paramedics responded to 830 incidents for the recent quarter, compared to 738 from the previous, with an average response time of 16 minutes, 57 seconds.
They attended 58.6% of Code 1 patients within 15 minutes.
While in South Gippsland, paramedics responded to 541 incidents, compared to 479, with an average response time of 19 minutes, 7 seconds.
They attended 43.8% of incidents within 15 minutes.
From October to December across Victoria, paramedics responded to 60.2 per cent of Code 1 cases within the state-wide average target of 15 minutes. The state-wide average response time to Code 1 cases was 16 minutes and 44 seconds.
During the quarter, an average of 112 staff a day were furloughed across the state due to COVID-19.
As a new wave of COVID-19 spread, the number of staff furloughed increased from a low of 31 on October 1, 2022, to a peak of 202 on December 20, 2022.
Mr Peyton said paramedics were seeing a record proportion of sicker patients who needed the most serious, time-critical Code 1 response.
“A year ago, life-threatening Code 1 cases made up 42 per cent of the total Triple Zero (000) demand – which has now risen to 46 per cent in this quarter,” Mr Peyton said.
“And on 27 December 2022, paramedics responded to 1,304 Code 1 cases – the first time we have broken 1,300 Code 1 cases in one day.
“That is why I encourage all Victorians to take care of themselves and keep regular check-ups with your GP or specialist before your condition worsens and you need to call for our lifesaving care.”
Ambulance Victoria Executive Director Clinical Operations Anthony Carlyon said they remain busy, attending 1800 to 2000 cases a day, and continue to ask the community to help save Triple Zero (000) for emergencies.
“From October to December, 41,440 callers to Triple Zero (000) did not need an emergency ambulance and were instead connected by paramedics and nurses in our Secondary Triage team to more appropriate care,” Mr Carlyon said.
“That results in 500 or more cases every day being safely matched to services that better suit their needs while also avoiding emergency dispatch. While ambulances are always provided to patients when required, about one in five calls to Triple Zero (000) do not need an emergency ambulance response.
“Ambulance Victoria is working hard to relieve pressure in the system and get ambulances back on the road faster with more than 1,300 paramedics recruited over the past two years.
“For less urgent cases we’ve tripled the size of our Secondary Triage team, while paramedics on the road have referred over 23,000 cases to the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) since October 2021 to help avoid unnecessary trips to our busy hospitals.”
