By ALESHA CAPONE
PARAMEDICS and politicians in the West have urged the State Government to take action to address the amount of time people are waiting for ambulances to arrive.
In parliament, Kororoit MP Marlene Kairouz has accused the government of “under-resourcing and mismanagement of the ambulance system”.
Figures obtained by the Opposition in April this year showed the average time for paramedics to reach a code one emergency from Brimbank Ambulance Station was 10.40 minutes in 2009-10.
However, this increased to 14.27 minutes during January-June 2012.
The figures also showed the wait for ambulances from Braybook Ambulance Station increased to 14.26 minutes, St Albans 14.05 minutes and Kealba 14 minutes.
An ambulance officer based in the West, who asked to remain anonymous, told Star paramedics now expect to do overtime every day.
“We will regularly work two-three hours overtime to make up for inadequate resourcing, on shifts that are already 10-14 hours long,” he said.
“Last week I had two day shifts in a row, where I did not have a single meal break.
“Ramping at hospitals not only increases our fatigue levels, but also leaves us unable to respond in a timely manner,” he said.
“Last week a crew took over 20 minutes to get to a patient having a seizure. His wife was beside herself when they finally arrived.”
Ambulance Victoria Metro West region group manager, Tony Elliott, said they always send “the closest ambulance to the most time critical patients first”.
“Response times are not the only measure of a quality ambulance service and we are seeing improvements in the important measures of whether people live or die, and the quality of their life for cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke and head trauma patients,” he said.
“The increase in demand for ambulance services and the time taken to transfer patients at hospitals can impact on our ability to respond to Triple Zero calls,” Mr Elliott said.
“We know it can be frustrating for our paramedics to have to wait at hospitals and we have been working with hospitals to minimise the time taken to take transfer patients to and ensure our paramedics are available to respond to emergencies in the community.”
