AN extra Ambulance Victoria crew will operate in Bendigo from Monday with its focus to assist regional crews during the busiest time of the day.
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The Peak Period Unit comprises of two Advance Life Support paramedics will be available for patients facing life-threatening emergencies.
Ambulance Victoria Loddon Mallee Acting Regional Director Trevor Weston said the new unit will operate during the busiest times of the day for up to 12 hours.
"The Peak Period Unit will see an extra crew comprising of two Advanced Life Support paramedics on shift for up to twelve hours during the branches' busiest times," Mr Weston said.
"This will assist existing crews to manage demand across afternoons and evenings which is often the time when most Bendigo residents call for emergency assistance."
Mr Weston said the coronavirus pandemic continued to have an unprecedented impact on the entire health system, in Bendigo and across Australia.
Between July and September Greater Bendigo saw an 8.8 per cent increase in life-threatening Code 1 cases.
"Bendigo's paramedics are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians," Mr Weston said.
"This extra Peak Period Unit will help us meet demand from the growing Bendigo community and ensure locals get the right care at right time when they need it most.
"It will make a real difference to our busy paramedics who are dealing with an extraordinary workload, but also for patients during our busiest times."
Mr Weston said boosting rural resources was one of the first steps in Ambulance Victoria's plan to improve ambulance performance.
"We are recruiting 56 on-road paramedics to deliver additional services across rural Victoria, which includes the new Bendigo Peak Period Unit," he said.
"This will place additional paramedics and services where and when they are most needed - helping us overcome the challenges of working in regional areas, such as longer case times and distances required to travel to emergency events and hospitals.
"These rural resources are being rolled out as part of a $759 million State Government investment for more paramedics, more secondary triage practitioners and support staff for Ambulance Victoria, as well as targeted funding to improve flow in our busy hospital emergency departments.
"Seven Medium Acuity Transport Services (MATS) have also been rolled out in regional Victoria to free up more ambulances to attend the most critically ill patients, including one here in Bendigo."
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