“We go to ‘code red’ under an emergency response plan,so it’s not ideal,but it certainly allows us to actually treat the patients with the greatest need,and the greatest risk at the time that they need the treatment.”
She urged Victorians to avoid risky behaviour that could further strain the ambulance service,such as taking risks in the water or driving after drinking alcohol.
Ambulance Victoria issued the alert shortly after 12.30am on Wednesday,warning patients to expect delays if they had requested an ambulance,citing extreme demand in the metropolitan area.
A code red alert — the same declaration issued in Victoria for the Black Saturday bushfires and the deadly thunderstorm asthma event of 2016 — was downgraded shortly after 3am,as demand for ambulance services eased.
The Victorian Health Department also announced on Wednesday that it was temporarily suspending non-urgent elective surgery procedures at public and private hospitals in metropolitan Melbourne and major regional cities from Thursday in a bid to free up capacity for coronavirus patients.
“As the Omicron strain continues to spread rapidly,these changes will reduce the strain on our hospitals by ensuring as many resources as possible are available across the system to manage both COVID-19 demand as well as other patients with emergency and urgent medical needs,” a statement announcing the move said.
The changes will apply to all public health services in Melbourne as well as Barwon Health,Ballarat Health Services’ Grampians Health campus,Bendigo Health,Goulburn Valley Health and Latrobe Regional Hospital.
It will also extend to private and day procedure centres in Melbourne and private hospitals in Geelong,Bendigo,Ballarat,Latrobe Valley and Shepparton.
Elective surgeries where the patient was scheduled for admission on Thursday and Friday can still go ahead if it is not safe or logistically possible to postpone.
Health authorities said people impacted by the changes should contact their GP if their condition deteriorates,so they can be prioritised.
Earlier on Wednesday,acting Premier Jacinta Allan said the ambulance code red was further evidence of the “unprecedented challenges” Victoria’s health system was facing.
“And this is a challenge that’s[being] experienced around the country and around the world,and that’s why Victorians know what they need to do … to keep ourselves protected and safe,” she said.
The alert urged people to phone the government-run Nurse-on-Call service –which provides health advice over the phone – or visit their local general practitioner if they did not have an emergency.
Earlier on Wednesday,an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in an extreme demand for services.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an unprecedented impact on health systems across Australia,” the spokesperson said.
“Our paramedics and patient transport workers are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians.
“Last night,Ambulance Victoria experienced a major impact on normal business delivery in the metropolitan region which resulted in longer wait times than usual for patients. This increased caseload has now eased.
“Our priority is to ensure we have adequate resources for code-one patients who require a lights-and-sirens urgent response. These patients are categorised as the sickest Victorians who require urgent life-saving care.”
“Last night,Ambulance Victoria experienced a major impact on normal business delivery.”
- Ambulance Victoria spokesperson
Ambulance Union acting general secretary Olga Bartasek said “it was pretty dire for a code red to be alerted”.
“Certainly,code red is only ever reserved for ... things like thunderstorm asthma or the bushfires,” she told 3AW.
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“Certainly,there are some staff that are being furloughed because of Omicron,and also a huge demand in cases that are coming in.
“It’s a bit of COVID,as well as the fact that there’s just an extraordinary demand on the ambulance service for other general cases.”
Ms Bartasek said some non-emergency patient transport workers had been dispatched to deal with serious cases overnight.
Earlier,an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson urged people to make sure their medications were up to date,and thanked the community who “helped us resolve this matter overnight”.
Code red or orange protocols – under which people may be directed to take taxis to hospital and non-emergency vehicles can be used for emergency events – are typically used for one-off events such as bushfires or thunderstorm asthma butare now commonly being used to meet high demand unrelated to emergency incidents.
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