Ambulance Victoria response overhaul saves dozens of lives

EXCLUSIVE: AN extra 39 people whose hearts had stopped have been brought back to life, thanks to an Ambulance Victoria overhaul of its 000 response calls.

AN extra 39 people whose hearts had stopped have been brought back to life and an additional 7000 critical ­patients treated in time, under an overhaul that has seen 50,000 non-urgent or worried but well Victorians denied an ambulance.

Hundreds of 000 calls that previously saw an emergency ambulance automatically dispatched have been quietly downgraded over the past year, in the biggest shake-up of Victoria’s ambulance ­response system.

Instead of receiving help from paramedics, half of the 50,000 redirected calls were told to make their own way to hospital, a third had ailments so minor they were able to take care of themselves at home, while others had GP house calls organised for them.

With its elite paramedics no longer tied up with time-wasting calls, Ambulance Victoria over the past year was able to treat an extra 7000 genuine “Code 1” (top priority) patients with life-threatening conditions within the vital 15 minutes of being called out.

Hundreds of 000 calls that previously saw an emergency ambulance automatically dispatched have been quietly downgraded over the past year. Generic picture

AMBULANCE VICTORIA CALLS FOR CITIZEN FIRST-RESPONDERS TO HELP RESPOND TO CRITICAL 000 EMERGENCIES

A review of the changes to be announced today found the 000 overhaul so successful a record 37.7 per cent of cardiac arrest patients are now leaving hospital alive — compared to just 30.3 per cent before December 2015.

With pleas for an ambulance increasing by 50 per cent over the past decade — including one in five needless calls — Ambulance Victoria’s executive director of emergency operations, Mick Stephenson, said significant action was needed to save genuine emergency patients.

“At some stage something has to break and it is irresponsible to send an emergency ambulance to everyone who does not need one,” he said.

“We found we have an improved availability of mobile intensive care units to those cases that need it; we have improved emergency response times across all three emergency codes; we have seen less patients going to emergency departments and better links for people into appropriate healthcare. This will be the biggest project we have ever been involved in.”

Health Minister Jill Hennessy said introducing a smarter triage system and tapping into referral services had freed up ambulances.

“It’s no exaggeration to say these are lifesaving changes,” she said. “The results speak for themselves — not only do we have faster responses, but crucially we have the right ­responses.”

ERIC HAS A HEART STOPPER

HIS heart may have stopped for more than 40 minutes, but Eric Hirschfeld says he hasn’t skipped a beat since, thanks to the efforts of Victoria’s paramedics.

Mr Hirschfeld was enjoying a beer after work on October 16 last year when he suddenly felt “weird” and slumped in his chair.

As his wife called 000, the 57-year-old began turning blue, but within eight minutes MICA and other Ambulance Victoria paramedics arrived at their Reservoir home to begin a 40-minute battle to restart Mr Hirschfeld’s heart.

“I woke up about an hour later and there was all these people there. I registered quite quickly that four of them were paramedics and thought, ‘I reckon they’re here for me’,” he said.

Eric Hirschfeld, 57, says he hasn’t skipped a beat thanks to Victoria’s paramedics. Picture: Tony Gough

“I was very conscious very quickly and they told me what had happened.

“I just though ‘Oh geez’. Then I felt the pain.”

Fortunately for Mr Hirschfeld, his heart had stopped during the trial to weed out non-emergency calls, so cases such as his could be tended to sooner.

“If there had been any further delay I would not be sitting here talking to you.

“I do not feel any different to before it occurred. Their ability to sum up a situation and act on it, from the dispatcher on ... everything was so well done,” he said.

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