‘Code red’ crisis averted by Ambulance Victoria

Up to 70 people were left waiting for ambulances at one point on Saturday night, as hospitals rushed to help Ambulance Victoria avoid a rare crisis.

Ambulances lined up outside the Northern Hospital in Epping in September. Picture: David Geraghty

Ambulance Victoria averted a rare crisis on Saturday night, after hospitals were put on notice that the service had “exhausted their ability to meet demand”.

But the agency on Sunday revealed it was not required to declare a code red because it took “proactive steps”, such as warning hospitals across the state of the crisis.

“While we expected demand to have a major impact on service delivery (on Saturday night), the proactive steps we took prevented the need for maximum escalation,” an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said on Sunday.

“The global Covid pandemic continues to have an unprecedented impact on health systems across Australia.

“Our paramedics and patient transport workers are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians.”

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said at one stage 70 people were unable to receive treatment from paramedics.

“There were 70 people at one point who called up and needed an ambulance, they’ve tried to dispatch one, but there’s none available,” Mr Hill said.

“We have referral services which look at that cohort of cases and keep checking to see if any of them can be downgraded, or dealt with in a different way (to sending an ambulance).”

Mr Hill said ESTA, the state’s triple zero service, deemed 70 callers had needed an ambulance at the time, amid a “perfect storm” of staff shortages and patient demand.

It is understood that a code orange was issued at 7pm, with the agency then anticipating having to issue a code red at some point during the night.

While it was saved from making that declaration, Ambulance Victoria is still imploring Victorians to “work with us”.

Ambulances ramping at the Northern Hospital in Epping in September. Picture: Twitter

“(Save) triple-0 for emergencies by calling Nurse-On-Call for immediate health advice or seeing your GP or pharmacist early for advice or treatment.”

On Saturday, hospitals were asked to triage patients as quickly as possible to help get ambulances back on the road.

A source said the expected code red, which was enacted during the Black Saturday bushfires, in the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event and once in December 2020, showed Victoria’s ambulance crisis was worsening.

Mr Hill said the coronavirus crisis had created “a perfect storm”, which had caused staff shortages and stretched the health system to capacity.

“Everyone is completely overwhelmed, so absenteeism and sick leave is at an all-time high — everyone is struggling to fill their shifts at the moment,” he said.

Mr Hill said hospitals were “not coping at the moment” due to the influx of patients with Covid.

An ambulance is cleaned at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Picture: William West

“(This means) we are seeing our ambulances stationed at hospitals for long periods of time, and unable to respond to cases in the community,” he said.

Many people with chronic health problems have also avoided GP visits throughout the pandemic, which had created further demand.

“A lot of paramedics are attending patients who haven’t regularly been seeing their GP … they have become unwell and have called paramedics after they reached their crisis point,” he said.

Health Minister Martin Foley on Friday announced a $40m boost to funding to help get more paramedics on the road.

But he warned the worst was yet to come for Victoria’s hospitals and paramedics with Covid cases set to surge in coming months.

Record call-outs have put Ambulance Victoria under unprecedented pressure.

Last month, the boss of Victoria’s triple-0 system resigned, stepping down from the role less than two weeks after vowing to lead the organisation through its current crisis.