MEMBER for Orange Andrew Gee says while it’s concerning a man with head injuries was forced to wait 28 minutes for paramedics, the local service is well resourced.
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A 60-year-old victim was assaulted during a home invasion at his Kenna Street unit in the early hours of June 20 and an ambulance was called at 8.52am.
Due to a heavy workload at the time, paramedics didn’t arrive to treat the man until 28 minutes later.
A spokesperson for NSW Ambulance said “the nearest available paramedic crew was immediately assigned.”
“At the time of the call, NSW Ambulance was fully rostered but experiencing heavy emergency workloads across the region, with every nearby paramedic crew engaged in patient care,” the spokesperson said.
The victim was treated at the scene 28 minutes after the first call to NSW Ambulance and transported to Orange Health Service in a stable condition.
Mr Gee said while the delay was “concerning “ when compared to the state target response times, Orange’s average response times were better than the state average and the state’s target average.
Mr Gee said the state average time for NSW Ambulance crews to respond to a triple-0 call was 10.84 minutes, more than the state’s targeted time of 10.02 minutes, while Orange’s average response time was only 9.22 minutes.
“Any delay is concerning but I believe the ambulance service has the resources needed to get the job done, and the public should have confidence in this,” Mr Gee said.
Mr Gee said in August last year there were nine new paramedics, which included two probationary paramedics, assigned to outlying stations in the central west including Molong, Blayney and Canowindra.
Mr Gee said a new afternoon shift is due to start in Orange next week, which is when both trainees will have arrived, and will run four days a week from midday until 10pm.
He said the new shift is scheduled to last 10 months which is when the trainees will complete their training, however Mr Gee is hopeful the shift will continue with the next cohort of trainees.
“I think the number of paramedics has kept pace with the population’s growth (in Orange),” he said.
Mr Gee said while the home invasion would have been very traumatic for the victim, Orange response times were very good.
“(However) I will continue to monitor the situation and if a pattern develops where people’s lives are at risk I’ll be knocking on the (health) minister’s door,” he said.
tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au
