Sunburn and tooth aches: the Code 1 ‘emergencies’ clogging up the system
Paramedics are racing lights and sirens to treat sunburnt patients while genuine emergencies wait, as Geelong faces the state’s highest number of critical ambulance call-outs.
Geelong paramedics are being tied up for hours responding to sunburn cases and people with arms stuck in jackets - contributing to the region’s position as Victoria’s busiest for emergency calls and worsening ambulance ramping crisis.
The Victorian Ambulance Union said ambulances were ramped at Geelong hospital for more than four hours on Saturday night, as they pleaded for residents to make use of the virtual emergency department where possible.
“Busy night in Geelong where crews have been ramped for over four hours,” the post read.
“Ambulances cannot get you through the front door any quicker if you are not dealing with a genuine emergency.”
New data found Geelong was the busiest region in the state for Code 1 medical emergencies, requiring a rapid response by an Ambulance Victoria vehicle in under 15 minutes with lights and sirens blaring.
But the union warned many of these cases were not emergencies and were incorrectly categorised as such, causing an unnecessary burden on the system and paramedics.
“It’s not uncommon to see a paramedic dispatched to someone who’s got sunburn on their chest … it’s characterised as chest pain, and therefore a potential heart attack,” VAU head Danny Hill said.
“Ambulances are driving lights and sirens to someone who just needs some aloe vera, instead of going to someone else who is having a genuine emergency.”
He recalled a person with their arm stuck in a jacket who was categorised as having a stroke because they couldn’t move their arms, and another experiencing jaw pain due to toothache was given priority treatment.
Jaw pain can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack.
According to the data, paramedics attended 4991 Code 1 cases in Greater Geelong between April and June – more than five per cent of the total Code 1 workload across the state.
More than 71 per cent of these cases received a response time less than 15 minutes after reporting these incidents.
Mr Hill said these figures were “devastating” for both patients and paramedics tied up in non-emergency situations.
“We’re not seeing enough done to improve the accuracy of the call taking process,” he said.
“It’s incredibly frustrating for the crews.”
Mr Hill claimed Ambulance Victoria did a body of work years ago that removed “about 20,000 cases per quarter out of the Code 1 bucket” and downgraded them to Code 2.
“But that work really has stalled,” he said.
One simple improvement could be allowing dispatchers to ask further clarifying questions when receiving calls, rather than merely reporting where pain is coming from, Mr Hill said.
An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said the system was regularly reviewed to ensure it remained clinically safe and met the changing needs of the community.
“Ambulance Victoria’s call-taking and dispatch system is widely used by ambulance services across the world,” she said.
“It draws on information provided by callers, research and clinical data to determine the most appropriate response.”
She said one in five triple-0 calls, or more than 500 a day, did not require an emergency ambulance.
Barwon Health was contacted for comment.
Originally published as Sunburn and tooth aches: the Code 1 ‘emergencies’ clogging up the system
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