Enormous pressure on paramedics still impacting emergency response

AMBULANCE Victoria (AV) response times in Bass Coast and South Gippsland continued to lag behind official targets as paramedics faced their busiest winter on record for the recent quarter. 

AV aims to respond to Code 1 emergencies within 15 minutes for 85 per cent of incidents state-wide, and 90 per cent of incidents in areas with populations greater than 7500.

For the 2022/23 quarter one period (July 1- September 30), Bass Coast paramedics responded to 58.8 per cent of Code 1 emergencies within 15 minutes.

They had an average time of 16:31 minutes, with a total of 738 call outs.

This is slightly less than the previous quarter where they responded to 59.7 per cent of emergencies within 15 minutes, with 677 incidents.

In South Gippsland, paramedics responded to 479 incidents meeting the 15-minute benchmark 48.4 per cent of the time.

They had an average of 18:20 minutes. 

The previous quarter was also slightly better at 18 minutes, with 51.5 per cent of incidents responded to within the Code 1 target.

Ambulance Victoria Gippsland regional director Ross Salathiel said demand for ambulance services remained at record levels for the first quarter of 2022/23 due to the continued impacts of COVID-19 and the flu. 

“July to September was our busiest first quarter on record, and the second busiest quarter ever,” Mr Salathiel said.

“Together with the previous quarter, this was by far the busiest and most challenging winter ever. Our paramedics and first responders worked tirelessly to keep delivering world class care.

“This quarter also marked one year since the Medium Acuity Transport Service (MATS) crews dedicated to non-urgent calls hit the road, freeing up more ambulances for the most critical emergencies.”

In the Latrobe Local Government Area (LGA), there was an 18.2 per cent increase in Code 1 caseload from the same time last year.

Paramedics attended 72.3 per cent of Code 1 patients in the Latrobe LGA within 15 minutes – compared with 72.1 per cent in the previous quarter. The average response time to Code 1 patients was 13 minutes and 19 seconds – an improvement from 13 minutes and 35 seconds in the previous quarter.

In the Morwell major population centre, with paramedics reached 85.3 per cent of Code 1 patients within 15 minutes – compared with 85.1 per cent in the previous quarter. The average response time to Code 1 patients was 11 minutes and 11 seconds.

Across the state, ambulances were called to 94,592 Code 1 cases from July to September. That’s a drop of 3,335 Code 1 cases from the previous quarter, but a massive 17.6 per cent or 14,132 more ‘lights and sirens’ cases compared to this time last year.

Between July and September, paramedics responded to 64.3 per cent of Code 1 cases within the state-wide average target of 15 minutes, improving from 64 per cent in the previous quarter.

During the quarter, an average of 132 staff were furloughed everyday across the state due to COVID-19, with a peak of 305 staff furloughed on 23 July and dropping to 31 staff by the end of September.

Mr Salathiel said before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambulance Victoria recorded its best ever response performance of 83.9 per cent of Code 1 cases responded to within 15 minutes. We’ve since continued to respond to unprecedented demand.

From July to September, 7690 people were referred by Ambulance Victoria crews to the VVED with 76 per cent not requiring transport to hospital.

“From July to September 39,627 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,” Ambulance Victoria Executive Director Clinical Operations Anthony 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.”