A 69-year-old man in Melbourne’s east has died after waiting four hours for an ambulance due to severe shortages at Ambulance Victoria.
The delays were caused by 50 ambulances being out of service due to a spate of sick leave, which the ambulance association linked to overwork and burnout. In Melbourne, 30 ambulances were missing and in some cases the distance to the nearest unit was up to 100 kilometres.
Despite a call for help at 2am, an ambulance arrived at 6:06am, but it was too late. Firefighters had to enter the house, where the man had already died. The union said only 1% of the fleet was available at one point, with 50 ambulances missing overnight.
Ambulance Victoria is reviewing the incident and is in contact with the family. They acknowledged the crisis, attributed to high rates of seasonal illness and workforce shortages, and stressed their priority on critical incidents.
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill criticised the unacceptable backlog and highlighted the overwork of paramedics. The union also noted the recent resignation of Ambulance Victoria’s chief executive amid growing labour disputes and demands.
Ambulance Victoria said it is working to deploy as many crews as possible and uses a dynamic model to manage resources.
