United Voice News
New website shows where ambulance hot spots are across Victoria
People in regional Victoria can now find out online if their town or city is affected by our ambulance crisis.
Almost 20 towns across Victoria often have no local ambulance for hours on end because of understaffing. This means people must wait a lot longer for an ambulance to arrive in emergencies.
The website is part of a new community campaign, launched in Bendigo today by Ambulance Employees Australia, which will fight for improved ambulance services and funding across Victoria.
AEA State Secretary Steve McGhie said the ‘Response Time! Our Ambos. Our Lives.’ campaign will use online and grassroots campaigning to demand a faster, more reliable ambulance service for all Victorians.
McGhie said that while ambulance caseload increased by almost ten percent last year funding went backwards by almost six percent.
“Our ambulance service used to be considered among world’s best — it isn’t anymore. And it won’t be unless our community fights for greater funding and more paramedics.”
“Across Victoria emergency response times continue to blow out. One in every ten regional Victorians is waiting 25 minutes or more for an ambulance in emergencies.”
“Paramedics in many regional towns and cities are doing dangerously high levels of overtime because they’re worried about leaving their towns uncovered.
“This is driving paramedic fatigue to epidemic levels. Our recent survey found that ambos saying they’ve been so exhausted they’ve fallen asleep driving. Others have made errors with patient treatment and medication.”
“We desperately need at least 350 more paramedics to fix this crisis. That will help us achieve a faster, more reliable ambulance service and reduce paramedic fatigue.”
“We also need to make sure we have wages and conditions that will ensure we can attract and retain these paramedics.”
21 April 2008
