Bid to ease pressure on our paramedics

THE state’s ambulance service has launched a plan to cut the impact of non-urgent triple-0 calls on paramedics and hospital emergency departments.

About 40 per cent of calls to the emergency line did not require an emergency response, Ambulance Tasmania chief executive Neil Kirby said.

Recent examples include a caller who rang because their phone was out of credit and a person asking for help because they were constipated.

Others included a patient in Hobart, who visited their GP and was advised to go to hospital for further review.

They then drove home and called 000 so that an ambulance could take them.

There also was the case of person in Burnie calling 000 because they stubbed their toe and wanted an ambulance to take them to hospital to get an X-ray.

A trial of “secondary triage” to help divert nonurgent calls to appropriate services was a top priority identified in a recent review.

“These initiatives are about not only supporting the patients but supporting our staff in delivering what they’re there to do,” Mr Kirby said.

“We will be able to prioritise the emergency calls, so our emergency crews can attend to them, but for our lower-acuity patients, we can also find them an appropriate pathway which may not involve the need to send an emergency-crew ambulance.

“That has the flow-on effect of taking pressure off the paramedics, it does mean fewer cars going to the emergency department and therefore has a flow-on effect on ramping and it means patients’ healthcare needs are still being met.”

The trial is modelled on a Victorian system, which refers about 30 per cent of calls for non-urgent response.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the State Government had accepted all of the recommendations of the report.

He said 35 new paramedics would increase the number of ambulances on the road and would be

joined by more staff for the State Operations Centre.

“The new positions will commence this month and be based in the call centre to triage calls and ensure ambulances are prioritised to the highest need,” he said.

“Secondary triage will ensure that patients not requiring emergency intervention or transport to an emergency department will be referred to an appropriate health service, keeping paramedic resources available for emergency calls.”