‘Outrageous’: Ambulance Tasmania activation time figures released, Greens say lives at risk

The state’s ambulance service has released figures showing how long it took for ambulances to be dispatched to high priority emergency cases on average last financial year.

For the first time, Ambulance Tasmania has released figures relating to activation time.

Almost one third of life-threatening triple-0 calls were not assigned an ambulance within the targeted time frame last financial year, according to “outrageous” new figures.

For the first time, Ambulance Tasmania has released “activation time” statistics, showing that in 2023-24, there were a total of 43,452 Priority 0 and Priority 1 cases, of which 29 per cent were not assigned an ambulance within the three-minute target window.

Activation time is measured from when a triple-0 call is received to when an ambulance is assigned to that particular case. Priority 0 and Priority 1 cases are life-threatening and require the immediate dispatch of an ambulance.

Jordan Emery is the CEO of Ambulance Tasmania. Picture: Linda Higginson

Ambulance Tasmania’s performance in this area has worsened since 2022-23, when the activation time for 26 per cent of high-priority cases exceeded three minutes.

The figures were revealed in a budget estimates hearing last month, following questioning from Greens health spokeswoman Cecily Rosol.

Ambulance Tasmania CEO Jordan Emery told the hearing that 82 per cent of incidents had an ambulance activated in four minutes or less in 2023-24 and 88 per cent of Priority 0 and Priority 1 cases had an activation time of five minutes or less.

Mr Emery said factors impacting activation time included “resource availability” and insufficient information provided by callers.

“We’re actively working around ways we can optimise our services now to ensure that wherever possible, we can activate that ambulance as quickly as possible,” he said.

Ms Rosol said “every single minute counts” in an emergency situation and yet Tasmania was seeing “unacceptable delays” to thousands of cases.

“We know from the health union and from paramedics that ambulance understaffing continues to get worse, with more vacant shifts than ever,” she said.

Greens health spokeswoman Cecily Rosol. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

“Given so many shifts are unfilled, it’s no wonder that every single day we’re seeing 35 emergency incidents face significant delays getting an ambulance assigned.

“These figures are outrageous and require the government to take new action immediately. To start, they must commit to implementing the recommendations from their own expert report in full – including increased staffing, building new ambulance stations, and upgrading existing ones.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said Ambulance Tasmania continued to “strive to improve performance in all areas”.

“The three-minute target time is an internal efficiency target for Ambulance Tasmania,” she said.

“Ambulance Tasmania actively reviews performance data at all operational forums with a focus on improving response times and enabling the delivery of the best possible care to the Tasmanian community.”

Originally published as ‘Outrageous’: Ambulance Tasmania activation time figures released, Greens say lives at risk