‘Game of roulette’: Paramedics call on state government to end Adelaide Hills ambulance crisis

There’s only one ambulance to serve a growing Hills community and paramedics say they are forced to ‘roll the dice’ on who will get care.

Providing critical care in emergency situations has become a “game of roulette” in the Hills, with paramedics claiming chronic understaffing is putting lives at risk.

The Ambulance Employee Association blames the “crisis” on Mt Barker having just one vehicle since 1992, despite a 50 per cent rise in population since the early 2000s.

Critical staff shortages are also experienced in Woodside and Stirling where crews are regularly ramped at city-based hospitals during their 12-hour shifts.

It left the region reliant on support from further afield, including volunteers from Adelaide and Strathalbyn with an average response time of around 40 minutes.

Hills paramedic Nick Brockhoff said the situation required immediate action by the state government.

Paramedic Sam outside the Mount Barker Ambulance Station. Picture Mark Brake

“Sadly the public is probably not aware of the game of roulette that the government is playing with their lives every single shift,” he said.

“The fact of the matter is that we have a large and growing population in the Adelaide Hills and a significant demand for ambulance resources.

“It’s a roll of the dice, day or night, whether an ambulance will be in the Hills at the time you need to call it. It could come from much, much further away.”

Sam, a local paramedic whose surname was withheld, said an additional ambulance, an intensive care sprint car and patient transfer vehicle were needed to safely service the Mt Barker region.

He said better patient care was also needed at Mt Barker hospital to stop crews from diverting to the city.

“I had this patient recently with breathing problems … and we rocked up and, thank God we had cleared because there were no other crews, because she would have died with her grandchildren there,” he said.

“It just makes you think, why are we doing this to people?”

Kavel MP Dan Cregan said the ambulance shortage had played a big part in his defection from the Liberal Party.

“This is a key reason for me to become an independent – there is no way the government could reasonably ask me to doorknock the seat again as their candidate and tell people everything’s OK, including with local ambulance services,” he said.

“Everything’s not OK and I am extremely angry that our community has been let down on this issue.”

Mt Barker District Council chief executive Andrew Stuart said council staff had liaised with the SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission to establish an emergency services precinct on council-owned land on Bold Hills Rd.

“We’ve given (the state government) that opportunity but just haven’t heard back,” Mr Stuart said.

A SAAS spokeswoman said ambulance resourcing was kept under constant review.

This, she said, had resulted in one new full-time paramedic in Stirling since 2018 and upgrades to Meadow’s ambulance station.

Health Minister Stephen Wade said his government had made significant investment in Mt Barker.

“We are investing in a new, purpose-built ED which will more than triple the amount of treatment spaces at the Mt Barker Hospital emergency department,” he said.

“It will have the capacity to accommodate up to 22,000 emergency presentations per year – approximately 7000 presentations more than last year.”