By NATALIE GALLENTI
CITY of Melton residents continue to receive “second-rate” ambulance service with the average code one response time well over 14 minutes.
Statistics released last week revealed Melton residents’ lives are being put at risk as they are being forced to wait up to 14.13 minutes for an ambulance, compared to 10.40 minutes in 2010.
The data also revealed Hillside residents have an even longer wait of 15.38 minutes for a code one emergency, while people living in Bacchus Marsh have to wait on average a staggering 16.28 minutes.
The statistics came in the wake of the recent death of a Sunbury man who had suffered an asthma attack following a delayed ambulance response. This was the second death in three months of a patient waiting for an ambulance.
Keilor MP Natalie Hutchins says she feels a mixture of sadness and anger that people’s lives are being put at risk every day.
Ms Hutchins told Star she was angry that ambulance officers were being forced to wait with patients at local hospitals because there were no beds available for them.
“I’m quite angry that ambulances are being “ramped up” at local hospitals … ambulance officers are having to wait with patients because there are no beds. It’s creating a bottleneck.
“That’s where the real problems are.
“The number one thing is more beds need to be funded, the emergency departments need to be better resourced and ambulance officers need to be better resourced.”
Ms Hutchins said officers were being forced to cover greater areas and were taking longer to arrive at code one emergencies.
“Yet again the people in the outer suburbs are at more risk … it’s not fair at all. When you’re waiting for an ambulance every minute counts.
“Only minutes can be the difference between life and death.”
