- Published:
- Monday 16 April 2018
Sixty new paramedics are ready to hit the road across Melbourne to respond to critical emergencies and save lives, as part of a record funding boost from the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy congratulated graduate paramedics who today began their careers with Ambulance Victoria.
Part of the Labor Government’s additional 450 new paramedics, the 60 new graduate paramedics are being deployed to the areas where they are need most. Twenty four paramedics will go to ambulance branches in Melbourne east and 36 will be working in Melbourne’s west.
The Government is rebuilding Victoria’s ambulance system to ensure everyone can get world-class care, sooner, in a life-threating medical emergency.
Through our $500 million plan we’re improve ambulance response times, employing 450 more paramedics, buying new vehicles and building more stations across the state.
This investment, along with a further $26.5 million in last year’s budget, is the largest funding boost ever delivered for Victoria’s ambulance services.
After 18 months of boosting and reforming the ambulance system after years of neglect under the former Liberal Government, more and more ambulances are now arriving at emergencies sooner.
Our reforms ensure ambulances can focus on prioritising Code One call outs, so the most seriously ill and injured people get the care they need, faster.
Latest performance data shows 81.4 per cent of Code 1 ambulances are arriving within 15 minutes of call-out, compared with 76 per cent a year earlier and miles ahead of the 73.7 per cent from when the Liberals were last in government – it’s Victoria’s best Quarter Two in nine years.
This is in stark contrast to the previous Liberal Government, which went to war with paramedics, ripped $1 billion out of health, and left Victoria with the worst ambulance response times on the Australian mainland.
Victoria has been a leader in paramedic education, setting up the first training course for ambulance officers in 1961. Today, Ambulance Victoria’s flagship 12-month Graduate Ambulance Paramedics Program is supporting paramedics to transition from university to the workforce.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Ambulance Services Jill Hennessy
“We are with our paramedics every step of the way – not waging war against them.”
“We’re making record investments in our paramedics, so they have the facilities and resources they need to respond faster than ever before.”
“We know it’s a tough, but highly rewarding job. I am so proud of the extraordinary difference these paramedics with make, caring for us at our most vulnerable and saving lives.”