Staff shortages are pushing Victoria’s ambulance service to the breaking point with ramped vehicles seen outside hospitals this morning, following the declaration of a red code.
The Victoria ambulance declared another code red at 12:15 on Tuesday, which lasted four hours.
9News journalist Christine Ahern said that “at one point during that four-hour period there were no ambulances available in Melbourne if you called 000”.
Staff shortages are pressing the Victoria ambulance, with vehicles with ramps seen outside hospitals this morning. (Today)
Speaking to Today, Danny Hill of the Victorian Ambulance Union said he could not confirm how many calls were not answered during that period.
“I don’t have details on that at the moment,” he said.
“But a lot of that is starting to happen. The demand for ambulance resources at this time has never been greater.”
Hill said he has noticed an increase of 000 calls for “low-acuity medical problems.”
Danny Hill, of the Victorian Ambulance Union, said an increasing number of Australians call 000 in non-emergency cases. (Today) “It’s back to the whole system tension,” he said.
“People can’t come in to see GPs, they may not get the nursing care they would like to have in the nursing home, so they turn to 000.
“Emergency services are not meant for that, they are for emergencies, not for being a one-stop shop for all things related to someone’s health.”
The Victoria ambulance put a code red in its place Tuesday morning. It lasted about four hours. (9 News)
A spokesman told 9News that the red code was motivated by the fact that “146 Ambulance Victoria staff were unable to work due to illness due to COVID-19 or to care for family or friends with the virus “.
“The situation could be resolved, with the normalization of services in four hours,” they add.
“We thank the community for helping us save Triple Zero (000) for emergencies.”
Hill acknowledged that the past three years have affected staff.
“They do incredibly hard work, but they’re not superhuman,” he said.
“The last three years have taken their toll on the ambulance staff, on the health force, and we see that this sometimes develops at low rates due to quite high illness.
“The fact of causing a lot of shift changes and a new introduction makes zero ambulances able to respond Monday night.”
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