AMBULANCE VICTORIA 2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Highlights for the year
During the year, AV:
• Restructured intensive care paramedic services in
the metropolitan region, resulting in an increase
in the number of MICA vehicles on the road,
including 13 additional single responder units.
• Introduced MICA single responder units in
Morwell, Mildura, Shepparton, Wangaratta and
Warrnambool, providing speed, flexibility and the
highest level of care to these communities.
• Employed 240 new paramedics, including 188
university graduates. These graduates complete a
four-week induction program before a minimum
12-months internship to become a qualified
ambulance paramedic.
• Introduced seven out of eight new NEPT shifts/
crews that were announced and funded by
government (the eighth began operations in
July 2011).
• Began carrying blood on AV helicopters to
administer to critically ill patients in need of a
transfusion. This is a world-first and will make a
significant difference to patient outcomes.
• Deployed MICA paramedics from our Urban
Search and Rescue (USAR) unit to assist in the
humanitarian response to the earthquake in
Christchurch, New Zealand, in February 2011
that killed 181 people. AV paramedics from Peer
Support – who provide peer-to-peer assistance
following serious incidents – were also deployed
for five weeks to help local paramedics during the
recovery phase.
• Evacuated more than 350 patients from hospitals
and nursing homes during floods in Victoria
in January and February 2011, as part of a
comprehensive emergency response.
• Established a Field Primary Care Clinic in
Charlton, in western Victoria, after floods
devastated the town’s hospital and GP clinic.
The clinic, staffed by a GP, a nurse and a MICA
paramedic, treated more than 1,300 patients in its
nine weeks of operation.
• Sent 10 paramedics to Queensland to assist in
areas hit by floods in January 2011, following a
request from the Queensland Ambulance Service.
• Improved occupational health and safety
education for paramedics, with a focus on manual
handling and returning to work.
• Held a symposium in conjunction with the
Ambulance Employees Association and the
Victorian Ambulance Counselling Unit to address
fatigue, stress and mental health issues among
paramedic staff and volunteers.
• Continued a program of upgrading and rebuilding
branches, particularly in regional Victoria. We
have more than 240 branches and in many
cases existing buildings are being replaced or
refurbished to provide paramedics with state-ofthe-art
facilities.
• Commissioned and fitted out four King Air B200s,
new fixed-wing aircraft that replace the existing
fleet of 16-year-old aircraft.
• Continued to conduct and publish world-leading
clinical research in collaboration with leading
consultant doctors, including initiating two trials
that involve cooling patients in cardiac arrest and
patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
• Further expanded the successful 12-lead ECG
program to cover areas north of Melbourne such
as Kyneton, Kilmore, Romsey and Woodend.
The AV initiative has led to significantly better
outcomes for patients having heart attacks
because they receive appropriate hospital
intervention much quicker.
• Prepared to implement a State Government
initiative to halve the cost of ambulance
membership, in order to make membership more
affordable for Victorians, with a media launch in
June 2011.
2010 - 2011 Annual Report AMBULANCE VICTORIA 13