Ambulance service boost

Warragul ambulance has received one of four new paramedic crews allocated to Gippsland.

And two new Paramedic Community Support Coordinators are scheduled for the West and Central Gippsland areas next financial year.

Ambulance Victoria regional director Simon Jennett said the new paramedic crew at Warragul had “hit the ground running” to provide an extra resource during peak periods.

The other extra crews are stationed at Moe, Traralgon and Sale.

Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said an extra paramedic and ambulance vehicle would be provided to provide extra emergency coverage for the Neerim South area.

PCSC’s roles go beyond traditional response to emergency cases.

Mr Jennett said a key focus for them was to work with other local health services providing primary care and health care training.

The coordinators work with dedicated ambulance community officers and emergency response team volunteers that serve alongside professional paramedics.

Ms Shing said the most recent ambulance performance data show response times by ambulances to call out were the best they’d been in seven years.

She said that in the West Gippsland area almost 58 per cent of Code One emergencies were responded to within the targeted 15 minutes, up seven per cent on the same time last year.

The average time had dropped to 16 minutes and 23 seconds from 17 minutes 47 seconds.

Ms Shing said families in West Gippsland can be confident that in an emergency they’ll get life saving care when they need it.