General News
2 December, 2025
Record demand for ambulances
Ambulance Victoria (AV) paramedics faced a record-breaking winter with demand for critical emergency care surging as seasonal illness spread throughout the state.
AV experienced high demand for lights and sirens ambulances responding to Code 1 incidents between July and September, with just over 100,000 emergencies in just three months.
This marks a 2.8 percent increase state-wide compared to the previous quarter, making it the second busiest quarter in AV’s history.
In the Loddon Mallee Region, which covers Maryborough and surrounds, crews responded to 6500 Code 1 cases between July and September, which is 3.3 percent more a year ago (6291) and 4.65 percent more than three months ago (6211).
Locally in the Central Goldfields Shire, there were 329 Code 1 emergencies between July and September, with an average response time of 20 minutes and 38 seconds.
Just over 51 percent of Code 1 emergencies were responded to within AV’s Code 1 target of 15 minutes.
AV’s Loddon Mallee Regional Director Matt McCrohan said the support of the community can also help save lives — if you need help but it’s not life-threatening, they encourage you to consider the most appropriate care for your situation.
“Our paramedics are focused on reaching the sickest patients first — but every day, about one in five calls to Triple Zero (000) do not need an emergency ambulance response,” he said.
“Getting the right care fast can make all the difference and means more paramedics are on the road for people who need our urgent lifesaving care the most.
“There are many options people can access when they need timely medical care and health advice, at any time of the night or day — but not an emergency ambulance or calling Triple Zero (000), including the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED), Urgent Care Clinics, Nurse-on-Call, GPs and pharmacists.”
State-wide, AV crews responded to 64.1 percent of Code 1 cases within the state-wide target of 15 minutes. The state-wide average response time to Code 1 emergencies was 15 minutes and 46 seconds.
AV acting executive director regional operations Michael Georgiou said winter is traditionally a busy time for the organisation.
“Winter consistently brings the highest emergency call volumes, and this year was no exception. This was our busiest first quarter on record with 101,632 Code 1 emergencies in just three months, and overall, it was our second busiest quarter ever,” Mr Georgiou said.
“This was another challenging winter — the entire health system was extremely busy with seasonal illness. We are incredibly proud of our highly skilled paramedics and first responders for the exceptional care they provide their communities — all day, every day.
“Despite this record demand, we continue to lead the way in pre-hospital patient care, including the best cardiac arrest survival rates in Australia and third best anywhere in the world.”
Mr Georgiou said AV is working closely with hospitals, emergency services and government partners to keep patients moving through the system as quickly as possible and get ambulances back on the road sooner.
“The Standards for Safe and Timely Ambulance and Emergency Care are already making a difference transferring patients into hospital care in a consistent, safe and timely way,” he said.
“As part of this work, our crews have made steady improvements to improve our hospital clearing times and return to the community faster. Every small improvement – from more efficient handovers to quicker clearing times — adds up to better care for all Victorians.”
In a life-threatening emergency always call Triple Zero (000) immediately.