Ambulance Victoria: New figures reveal record demand

New figures reveal the extraordinary pressure Victorian paramedics face each day, with an unwelcome record set.

Ambulance records have been smashed in Victoria, with confirmation paramedics have treated 100,000 seriously ill patients in a three-month period for the first time.

In a statement released on Friday, Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to 100,234 code one cases from October to December, including a record 1304 code one cases on December 27.

A code one case requires urgent paramedic and hospital care and involves the use of lights and sirens, according to Ambulance Victoria.

Code one ambulance demands in Victoria have soared to record highs, with paramedics responding to more than 100,000 cases from October to December. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Ambulance Victoria executive director clinical operations Anthony Carlyon said the figures were a 9.7 per cent increase on the same time in 2021 and a 35.8 per cent increase from five years ago.

Mr Carlyon said ambulance responses were impacted by soaring demand, sicker patients and staff furloughing due to Covid.

“In the face of this record demand and the impacts of Covid-19 on our lives, our dedicated paramedics continue to do an amazing job delivering world-class care to our patients,” Mr Carlyon said.

Ambulance Victoria said from October to December, an average of 112 staff were furloughed with Covid, increasing from 31 on October 1 to its height of 202 on December 20.

Ambulance Victoria said responses were being impacted by soaring demand, sicker patients and staff furloughing due to Covid. NewsWire / David Geraghty

It said paramedics were able to respond to just over 60 per cent of code one cases within the target time of 15 minutes, with a statewide average of 16 minutes and 44 seconds.

Mr Carlyon said more patients were needing code one responses, with 46 per cent of triple-0 calls requiring a lights and siren response in the most recent quarter, up from 42 per cent one year ago.

He said paramedics continued to attend 1800 to 2000 cases per day however urged Victorians to keep triple-0 for emergencies.

He said more than 41,000 triple-0 from October to December did not need an emergency ambulance.

Updated figures published on Friday show 2941 new Covid infections were recorded over the past seven days, bringing the number of active cases to 2557.

The seven-day rolling average of cases requiring hospitalisation was 118, a reduction of more than 18 per cent.