Ambulance Victoria forced to make public changes to its responses codes

VICTORIA’S ambulance service has been forced to reveal details of hundreds of case types they no longer respond to under lights and sirens under efforts to prioritise paramedics.

VICTORIA’S ambulance service has been forced to reveal details of hundreds of case types it no longer responds to with lights and sirens under efforts to prioritise paramedics.

After the state Opposition won a year-long Freedom of Information battle, Ambulance Victoria on Wednesday revealed the full details of 328 codes which have been downgraded and receive a less urgent response.

While many of the Ambulance Dispatch Grid codes appear to relate to very severe injuries — including calls for “stab/gunshot wound” or “burns/explosion” — in practice, they deal with patients standing on pins, cutting themselves with kitchen knives or getting sunburnt.

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The Opposition has accused the government of stalling the release of information on why 63,170 fewer Victorians received a Code 1 ambulance response last year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge said the government had to be “dragged kicking and screaming” to release the details.

As the Herald Sun revealed in January 2017, Ambulance Victoria quietly overhauled its dispatch codes to deny non-urgent or worried-but-well Victorians a lights and sirens ambulance in order to improve response times for genuine emergencies.

But Ambulance Victoria fought against releasing exact details of the changed codes, claiming it was concerned the complex data could be misinterpreted.

Changes to ambulance response codes have been revealed. Picture: Hamilton Fiona

While there are more than 50 codes titled “stab/gunshot wound” to deal with the differing degrees of injuries, only the two least severe have been downgraded.

Dozens of stroke responses have also been downgraded so they no longer receive a lights and sirens ambulance in within 15 minutes.

However, Ambulance Victoria’s executive director of emergency operations, Mick Stephenson, said the calls related to patients who suffered a stroke more than six hours earlier and could no longer benefit from time-critical treatment.

Responses to several types of assaults and sexual assaults with serious haemorrhaging have also been downgraded to now only require paramedics within 30 minutes.

Ambulance Victoria's Mick Stephenson has defended the code changes. Picture: AAP Image/Luke Costin

Mr Stevenson said assault victims with time-critical injuries would still gain an immediate response, however the changes would allow others to gain a more co-ordinated response with police, counsellors, and female paramedics attending at the same time.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the code changes were saving lives.

“Despite increased demand across the board — thanks to our investment — ambulances are reaching those Victorians that need the most urgent, lifesaving care, sooner,” she said.

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