Ambulance Victoria (AV) paramedics are reaching patients in Metropolitan Melbourne faster than a year ago, and Melton emergencies had the biggest time improvement in wait times.
Ambulances responded to incidents in Melton three minutes and 21 seconds faster than a year ago, however the wait time was at 16 minutes, one minute longer than the response time target of 15 minutes.
Metropolitan regional director Michael Georgiou said the average response time to Code 1 “lights and sirens” cases across Victoria was now under 15 minutes for the first time in more than two years.
“While there is more work ahead of us, it is encouraging our response to Code 1 emergencies improved a full minute and 46 seconds across Victoria compared to a year ago,” he said.
“Our dedicated paramedics and first responders are to be commended for the outstanding care they deliver to communities across the state.”
The last quarter of 2023 was the busiest in AV’s history with 154,267 emergency cases. This includes 99,833 Code 1 cases – the second most on record – and 54,434 Code 2 cases.
Between October and December 2023, paramedics across Victoria responded to 67.3 per cent of Code 1 cases within the statewide target of 15 minutes – up from 60.2 per cent a year ago.
Outside the city, Moorabool also had a large decrease in wait times from 21 minutes and 18 seconds to 17 minutes and 36 seconds.
