CODE RED: Melbourne’s ambulance service stretched again
Melbourne’s ambulance system was again stretched to the limit last night.
Ambulance Victoria enacted a Code Red in metropolitan Melbourne for about two hours overnight, with people across the city told to expect delays for ambulances.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said the Code Red, enacted just before midnight, came “in response to a period of high demand within metropolitan Melbourne”.
“The situation was able to be quickly resolved with services returning to normal within two hours,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill says it was due to both the number of calls coming through and also demand at the hospital end.
“At one point there was only one per cent of the ambulance fleet across metropolitan Melbourne available to respond,” he said.
Press PLAY below to hear what Danny Hill thinks may have caused the spike in demand
Acting CEO of Ambulance Victoria, Libby Murphy, says she hasn’t received any advice that the Code Red “placed any person at risk”.
She told Neil Mitchell there’s “nothing that indicates” the surge in ambulance demand was due to the recent smoke haze.
Press PLAY below to hear more from the Acting CEO of Ambulance Victoria