An additional ambulance will operate from Ambulance Victoria's Eaglehawk branch from February, as the state government invests $14.8 million to boost service capacity.
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Four peak period units are being rolled out in Eaglehawk, Gisborne, Churchill and the Bellarine Peninsula to meet increased demand and provide greater service coverage.
Ambulance Victoria regional director Michael Georgiou said the easing of COVID-19 restrictions triggered more calls to ambulance services.
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"As we emerged from eight months of COVID-19 restrictions, the health care system saw a rapid rebound in emergency demand," Mr Georgiou said.
"The easing of restrictions coupled with people being reluctant to seek medical help in 2020 has contributed to higher demand."
A peak period unit operates the same as a regular ambulance service, but is rostered to meet times of higher demand.
In Eaglehawk and its surrounds, Mr Georgiou said demand peaks between 10am and 10pm.
To staff the state's four new regional PPUs and seven metropolitan PPUs, 77 graduate paramedics will be deployed.
Extra ambulance resources are also being deployed to Castlemaine to provide 24-hour coverage.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Steve McGhie said the government's funding provides extra ambulance units, surge shifts and jobs.
"These peak period units will provide additional resources out of branches across the state to meet increased demand," Mr McGhie said.
The funding package will also see 12 additional triage practitioners employed in Ambulance Victoria's triage services, providing more alternative care pathways to Victorians who don't need a lights and sirens ambulance response.
The Victorian Ambulance Union welcomed the government's announcement and said the targeted resources were desperately needed.
VAU general secretary Danny Hill said the targeted package delivers new resources in busy locations and wouldn't have been possible without members raising important examples of resourcing gaps.
"There are still areas that will need further resourcing to ensure the needs of the community are met as the population grows and workload increases," Mr Hill said.
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