By Callum Ludwig
With zero ambulances available overnight on Tuesday 28 June from 12.15am, Ambulance Victoria had to make the dreaded Code Red call, the fifth for the year.
Four hours later, ambulance services were able to resume as normal. The last code Red was called on Friday 27 May shortly prior to 1am, which lasted just over an hour.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said they enacted the red escalation in response to a period of limited fleet availability within metropolitan Melbourne.
“The situation was able to be resolved, with services returning to normal within four hours,” they said.
“We thank the community for helping us save Triple Zero (000) for emergencies.”
On Monday 27 June, 146 Ambulance Victoria staff were unable to work because of sickness through COVID-19 or caring for family or friends with the virus.
Ambulance Victoria was prepared to issue community messaging in the case of an extended escalation but was not activated as internal actions and support from partners improved the situation quickly.
Resourcing levels are constantly under assessment to determine the ability of Ambulance Victoria personnel to respond to changes in demand, fill any late absences and relocate resources.
Even during a red escalation, all patients, including high acuity code 1 patients, continue to get support and receive a follow-up call from experienced senior paramedics and nurses from secondary triage. These patients are provided with a full clinical assessment to check on their condition during this period and provided advice.
High acuity code 1 patients are those whose circumstances are deemed to be life-threatening and time-critical.
