Victorians urged to be on alert ahead of weekend’s ‘extreme’ pollen forecast

Asthma and hayfever sufferers are again being urged to be on alert with extreme levels of pollen predicted on the weekend.

It comes after high risk days earlier in the week saw a significant rise in emergency call-outs, around a third relating to respiratory problems.

Director of Emergency Management at Ambulance Victoria Justin Dunlop said it had been a busy few days.

“We certainly saw a lot of asthma,” he said.

“We attended over 1000 life threatening calls both on Wednesday and still yesterday which is unprecedented, [it’s] extremely unusual for that many immediate life threatening calls.

“Around one third of those were breathing problems.”

Northerly winds are predicted on Sunday with a top of 33 degrees in Melbourne.

“According to the Melbourne University’s Melbourne pollen site, their forecasts are suggesting up to extreme levels of pollens over the weekend [on Sunday] in some parts of Victoria.

“The risk of asthma is extreme hayfever very high.”

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