Code orange declared on Wednesday night due to high demand for paramedics

Ambulance Victoria has declared a code orange for the second time this week, as the state battles its ongoing health crisis.

Ambulance Victoria was forced to declare another code orange on Friday night as the state continues to battle its ongoing health crisis.

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill confirmed that the declaration had been made, saying four additional crews were needed to support busy staff but stressed there were no “alarm bells” ringing.

“When workload gets to a certain point and gets busy, the Emergency Management Unit at Ambulance Victoria, under the Department of Health, have the ability to say ‘yeah, it’s busy enough’ and it allows the rosters department of AV to call in extra crews to prepare for any further increases,” he said.

“When they think there’s going to be extra pollen and thunderstorm asthma and things like that, they’ll declare a code orange, and that allows the rosters department to send out text messages to off-duty crews to say ‘are you interested in working overtime tonight?’.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier took to Twitter to report that ambulance ramping was also occurring at the Austin, Northern, Frankston, Box Hill, Alfred and Sunshine Hospitals.

“Another Code Orange implemented by Ambulance Victoria,” she said.

“But you have to wonder has Code Red been removed as a response status(?)

“What we do know is Victoria’s health crisis continues under Andrews and Co.

“His time is up. Vote him out Nov 26.”

It comes as Ambulance Victoria was also forced to declare a code orange on Wednesday night before the Premier said the claims were “inaccurate” on Thursday.

Earlier this week, a spokeswoman confirmed that an “orange escalation” was enacted for the metropolitan region due to high demand for paramedics.

“Ambulance Victoria and metropolitan hospitals experienced high demand yesterday and managed the demand through our agreed escalation processes,” the statement read.

“We would again remind all community members to save triple-0 for emergencies – this is to ensure the sickest Victorians receive lifesaving care.”

Ms Crozier also took to social media at the time to report that 60 ambulances had been ramped outside hospitals.

“Victoria’s health crisis continues with another Code Orange,” she said.

A code orange was declared for Melbourne on Friday night. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

But on Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews said the claims were “inaccurate”.

“I don’t think that’s accurate at all, but I’m happy to have the health minister come back to you,” he said.

“Our ambos are doing an amazing job, so are our nurses, and I don’t think those reports are accurate.”

Danny Hill (centre) with paramedics. Picture Jay Town

It is unclear how many ambulances were ramped on Wednesday night.

Ambulance Victoria said ongoing staffing issues due to furlough also led to delays.

Currently, around 90 staff are furloughed due to Covid – an increase from around 30 at the start of October.

A spokeswoman detailed Emergency Response Plan and escalation procedures to effectively manage a surge in workload and demand.

She said a code orange represents an early caution that ensures the whole health system is aware of increases in demand for services or reduced ambulance fleet availability.