Ambulances responded to nearly 100,000 code one, urgent incidents in Victoria between July and September this year.
Code one is the second highest priority call for ambulances and can cover a range of conditions, including patients with chest pain or difficulties breathing.
Demand statewide fell slightly in the last quarter, compared to the three months prior, leading to slightly faster response times.
From July to September 2024, Ambulance Victoria crews across the state responded to 65.4 per cent of code one cases within the statewide target of 15 minutes — an improvement from 64.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
However, response times were still short of AV’s target to respond to 85 per cent of code one incidents within 15 minutes.
“Our dedicated paramedics and first responders do an incredible job working under pressure to provide the best care to communities across the state every day,” AV executive director regional operations Danielle North said.
“Between July and September, we attended over 3000 more ‘lights and sirens’ cases compared to a year ago, and 27.6 per cent extra code one cases than before the pandemic five years ago.”
In the Hume region, crews responded to 5508 code one cases between July and September.
More than 1300 were in Greater Shepparton, according to Victorian Agency for Health Information data.
Compared to the previous quarter, the vast majority of local government areas in Victoria saw improvements in the number of code one cases attended within 15 minutes.
In the Hume region, the biggest improvements were in the Moira, Towong, Murrindindi and Strathbogie areas, according to AV.
In Moira Shire, paramedics attended nearly 54 per cent of code one patients within 15 minutes between July and September, up from roughly 46 per cent the previous quarter.
According to AV, that’s the third largest improvement in the state and resulted in paramedics arriving two minutes and 37 seconds faster.
Hume regional director Peter Jenkins said there was more work to do, and AV continued to work with hospitals to transfer patients as quickly as possible and ensure all Victorians received the right care at the right time.
“Our expert Secondary Triage team of nurses and paramedics also make a real difference by connecting patients with the care they need while helping free up crews for patients in time-critical emergencies,” Mr Jenkins said.
“From July to September, 41,142 people who did not need an emergency ambulance were instead connected to more appropriate care by paramedics and nurses in Secondary Triage.
“In 2023/24, paramedics referred nearly 43,000 patients to the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, with over three quarters cared for without transport to a physical ED.”
Mr Jenkins said it was also important that people only called on ambulance crews when there was an emergency.
In less urgent cases, he urged people to consider alternative care options such as the virtual ED, Urgent Care Clinics or the Nurse-On-Call line: 1300 60 60 24.
While demand for ambulance services has dropped slightly in Greater Shepparton in the past year, data shows the share of patients waiting for more than 40 minutes to be transferred from an ambulance to the Emergency Department at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton has increased.
Between July and September of last year, 67 per cent of patients were transferred within 40 minutes.
In the same time frame this year, that number dropped to just over 50 per cent.
This is an issue that’s not unique to GV Health, with 63 per cent of patients statewide being transferred from ambulance to ED within 40 minutes.
Ambulance ramping, working conditions and workloads of paramedics are among a wide range of issues being probed during a state parliamentary inquiry into AV.
According to AV, numerous measures are used to gauge the performance and the effective delivery of Victoria’s ambulance services.