General News
6 March, 2025
Ambos respond faster across Wimmera
Paramedics in the Grampians region have been working tirelessly around the clock, responding to 4630 code-one cases between October and December 2024.
During the final quarter of last year, dramatic improvements in response times were seen in the Wimmera Mallee, with many shires responding to code one emergencies faster than in the previous year.
In Yarriambiack, paramedics attended 43 per cent of code-one patients within 15 minutes, which was up by 36.7 per cent on the same period in 2023, paramedics arriving two minutes and eight seconds faster.
Horsham saw paramedics attend 90.3 per cent of code-one patients within 15 minutes – the best result in the state and exceeding the performance target.
Compared to a year ago, paramedics arrived 53 seconds faster.
In West Wimmera, 40.4 per cent of code-one patients were attended to within 15 minutes – a 35.6 per cent improvement on the previous year.
Grampians regional director Steve Doyle said there was more work to do and Ambulance Victoria (AV) continued to work with hospitals to quickly transfer patients and ensure everyone received the right care.
“More new paramedics have also hit the road to help meet demand," Mr Doyle said.
"Since last November we've welcomed 84 new graduate paramedics to our ranks and a further 15 new recruits will start soon, including qualified paramedics from New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and New Zealand.
“Our people are our greatest assets.
"It's through them that we continue to lead the way in patient care including one of the best cardiac arrest survival rates in the world.
“We are also giving them the latest technology they need to do their job and get back on the road quicker."
New digital radios will be rolled out this year across regional Victoria, with crews having iPads to complete electronic patient care records easier and faster.
Mr Doyle said the medium-acuity transport service crews dedicated to less-urgent calls attended 8100 cases last quarter, freeing up more ambulances to respond to critically ill patients.
He encouraged Victorians to do their part to ensure AV’s highly skilled paramedics were available for patients most in need.
“In less urgent cases, there are many options people can access when they need timely medical care and health advice all day every day – but not an emergency ambulance or calling Triple Zero (000),” Mr Doyle said.
“This includes the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, Urgent Care Clinics and other options such as your GP or pharmacist, or Nurse-On-Call on 1300 60 60 24.”