By Kath Gannaway
A TRIAL ‘move up’ of a Yarra Junction-based ambulance from Friday through to Sunday will rob the response area of a vital resource.
The claim was made last week in an anonymous letter to the Mail.
The trial which started in October has paramedics in the ambulance (code name Millgrove) operating from 1pm to 10pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, heading down the line to await instructions on where they need to go and stay for the day.
A Healesville-based ambulance (code name Coldstream) will also be part of the trial from Monday to Thursday.
Ambulance Victoria has refuted claims made in the letter that the policy will affect the ability of Yarra Junction to respond to incidents in the response area which runs from Seville to Cambarville and out to Yellingbo.
An email from the Senior Team Manager at Yarra Junction seen by the Mail states the ‘move up’ policy aims to “assist with increasing resource availability across the (Metropolitan East) region”.
Claims made in information provided to the Mail include:
* Yarra Junction has lost 36 hours of ambulance cover or 50 per cent of its cover from 1pm to 10pm Friday to Sunday.
* Yarra Junction Ambulance Station has some of the worst response times in the state.
* The ability to provide a second ambulance to incidences such as a car crash which usually require more than one ambulance has been lost on the weekend.
* Friday to Sunday are the busy times in the Yarra Valley with an influx of tourists requiring more resources, not less, as proven by poor response times.
* The workload had risen since 2009 when the ‘Millgrove’ ambulance was initiated to address poor response times, but it is now being taken away.
The Metropolitan East region is large including branch locations at Camberwell, Caulfield, Dandenong, Frankston, Pakenham and as far south as Sorrento, as well as Yarra Junction.
Ambulance Victoria Regional Director, Cath Anderson, said the Coldstream and Millgrove peak period units were not being moved into Melbourne and continue to provide emergency response to patients within the Yarra Ranges.
“Coldstream is rostered 12 hours a day, seven days a week based at Healesville and Millgrove is rostered 12 hours a day, seven days a week, based at Yarra Junction,” Ms Anderson said.
“There are times where the Coldstream ambulance moves towards Lilydale when the Healesville ambulance is available to respond to emergencies within Healesville.
Similarly, the Millgrove ambulance at times will move towards Lilydale when the Yarra Junction ambulance is available to respond to emergencies within Yarra Junction.”
Ms Anderson said Ambulance Victoria said their communications and dispatch system provided an accurate picture of what each ambulance in Victoria was doing at any particular time and as a result they could move ambulances around the wider community to ensure they were well-placed to respond to the next triple-zero call.
What is your experience of ambulance response times in the Upper Yarra and Yarra Valley? Do we need more ambulance presence at local stations? Email editor@mailnewsgroup.com.au
