MORE AMBULANCES

More ambulances will be available for patients facing life-threatening emergencies during the busiest times of the day with a new paramedic team hitting the road in Warragul.

Ambulance Victoria Gippsland regional director Ross Salathiel said a new Peak Period Unit would be operating out of Warragul from yesterday.

“The Peak Period Unit will see an extra crew comprising of two advanced life support paramedics on shift for up to 12 hours during the branche’s busiest times,” Mr Salathiel said.

“This will assist existing crews to manage demand across afternoons and evenings which is often the time when most Warragul residents call for emergency assistance.”

Mr Salathiel said the global COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an unprecedented impact on the entire health system, not just in Warragul, but right across Australia.

“Baw Baw paramedics are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians,” Mr Salathiel said.

“This extra Peak Period Unit will help us meet demand from the growing Baw Baw community and ensure locals get the right care at right time when they need it most.

“It will make a real difference to our busy paramedics who are dealing with an extraordinary workload, but also for patients during our busiest times.”

In the Baw Baw municipality, there was an 11.3 per cent increase in life-threatening code one cases between July and September 2021 compared to the same time the previous year.

Mr Salathiel said the boost to rural resourcing was one of the first steps in Ambulance Victoria’s plan to improve ambulance performance and deliver even better care to patients across the state.

“We are recruiting 56 on-road paramedics to deliver additional services across rural Victoria, which includes the additional new Peak Period Unit for Warragul..

“This will place additional paramedics and services where and when they are most needed - helping us overcome the challenges of working in regional areas, such as longer case times and distances required to travel to emergency events and hospitals.

“These rural resources are being rolled out as part of a $759 million State Government investment for more paramedics, more secondary triage practitioners and support staff for Ambulance Victoria, as well as targeted funding to improve flow in our busy hospital emergency departments.

“Seven Medium Acuity Transport Services (MATS) have also been rolled out in regional Victoria to free up more ambulances to attend the most critically ill patients,” he said.