Rochester residents are concerned that changes to their town’s paramedic staffing system will leave members of their community at risk in medical emergencies.
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An Ambulance Victoria trial of two-officer crews in the town has now ended, which Campaspe Shire Council’s Rochester ward councillor Leigh Wilson said meant the number of paramedics in the town dropped from four to two.
On Friday, dozens of community members gathered to voice their concern about possible changes.
Cr Wilson said there was a perception in the community it was receiving a good level of service during the trial, but it was not known what the impact the end of the trial would have.
But Ambulance Victoria’s Loddon Mallee regional director Andy Roughton said there had been no reduction in staffing, with staffing levels returned to normal after the trial.
He said the branch was staffed to ensure round-the-clock coverage.
“Paramedics at Rochester respond as part of a two-person crew – either with another paramedic or with an Ambulance Community Officer (ACO), Mr Roughton said.
“ACOs undergo formal and continuous training to ensure that the communities they serve receive a high level of clinical care.”
But Cr Wilson said he knew of one woman who called for an ambulance because of a heart complaint and waited 35 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from Kyabram.
Mr Roughton said a number of initiatives had been implemented across all regions to improve response times.
There have also been reports of paramedics attending call-outs alone, which has raised concerns for their safety.
Narelle Fraser, a former police officer, said she had worked alone and it was “scary”, because you did not know what you might face attending a call-out.
“I had equipment to protect myself. The ambos are going into as dangerous a situation, but they’re unprotected,” Ms Fraser said.
Mr Roughton said paramedics in both regional and metropolitan areas would occasionally work alone if the other position could not be backfilled.
“We have introduced a range of initiatives in the past few years to ensure that our staff have improved equipment, training and resources to reduce safety risks and enable our staff to feel supported and know that safety comes first,” he said.
Rochester resident Des Hore said money needed to be spent to maintain important services in country towns.
He said towns with good services supported healthy communities and attracted people to live in them.