Ambulance Victoria’s latest report shows response times in Loddon Mallee are still below target despite improvements in some local government areas.
Gannawarra saw 46.6 per cent of code one dispatches attended to within 15 minutes from July to September, meaning paramedics arrived just over two minutes faster to the most urgent cases in the region compared to the previous quarter.
While response times in the region were up from 38.9 per cent in April to June this year, they are still below Ambulance Victoria’s official response target of 85 per cent of code one cases attended to within 15 minutes.
Campaspe’s code one response times remained fairly steady at 57.9 per cent this quarter, a slight drop from 58.3 per cent in April to June.
This quarter saw more than 3000 more code one cases compared to last year, while last quarter was the busiest on record for code one cases in the state.
In the Loddon Mallee region, paramedic crews responded to 6291 code one cases between July and September, with 839 between Gannawarra and Campaspe.
Loddon Mallee regional director Matt McCrohan said there was work to be done, with Ambulance Victoria working with hospitals to transfer patients quickly and encouraging different channels of care.
“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 McCrohan 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.”
Mr McCrohan urged Victorians to consider using alternative care options if their matter was not an emergency.
“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,” he said.