Decrease in ambulance response times

Ambulance Victoria has reported demand for ambulances state wide is showing no sign of slowing down, and Warragul was among the services where response times decreased.

New data released by the organisation on August 7 revealed the demand for ambulances in Victoria had continued to increase - marking it the busiest quarter in the history of the service and the third record-breaking quarter in a row.

Ambulance Victoria regional director Ross Salathiel said there were no signs of demand slowing down through winter.

“COVID-19 continues to pose a high risk to Victorians and will do some for some time,” he said.

Despite this, response times to code one cases by the Drouin service improved in quarter four, increasing from 72.6 per cent of code one cases responded to within 15 minutes at the same time last year to 74.8 per cent.

The average response time for code one cases in quarter four this year was 14 minutes and 11 seconds.

A code one response is used for patients that require urgent paramedic and hospital care. It requires a “lights and sirens” response.

“To manage this demand we have placed an additional peak period resource in Drouin seven days per week to support the increased demand during this period,” Mr Salathiel said.

However, Warragul’s response time percentage decreased from 82.6 per cent of cases responded to within the first 15 minutes in quarter four last year to 74.0 per cent.

In Warragul, the average code one response time for an ambulance is 13.12 minutes.

Baw Baw as a whole has also decreased slightly, from 66.3 per cent to 59.9 per cent of cases responded to within 15 minutes.

Ambulance Victoria interim chief executive Felicity Topp said for less urgent cases, Ambulance Victoria had tripled the size of the Secondary Triage Service and has also used the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED) to help avoid unnecessary trips to busy hospitals.

“Our paramedics are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians,” Ms Topp said.

“However, from April to June 42,525 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.

“That results in 500 or more cases every day being 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,” she added.