THE flu season has impacted the work of the Wimmera's paramedics.
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Ambulance Victoria's quarterly report for the three months to June 30 shows Horsham residents facing code one emergencies waited an average of 10 minutes and 43 seconds for paramedics to arrive.
Overall, crews attended 85.9 per cent of the 283 code one emergencies within 15 minutes - down 1.1 per cent from the previous three-month period.
Read the full report below.
The average wait time for code two responses in Horsham was 29 minutes and 29 seconds - the longest wait time in more than a year, and up more than three minutes from the previous three-month period average.
Grampians acting regional director Aliesha Robertson said the demand paramedics were experiencing reflected "a more prevalent than usual" flu season.
"We have seen an increase in all case types requiring an emergency ambulance - not just code one cases," she said.
"Our code two cases in the Horsham LGA increased from 276 a year ago to 303 in the most recent quarter - an increase of 9.8 per cent.
"The most recent Victorian Weekly Influenza Report shows that since January 1, 2019 cases are tracking over 12 times higher than for the same time in 2018, and above expected levels for this time of the year."
Related: Flu cases skyrocket in the Grampians
"Not only are we seeing more cases, we are seeing more higher-acuity respiratory and cardiac cases during the influenza season that require an emergency ambulance."
She said Ambulance Victoria staff at the Horsham branch included both Advanced Life Support and Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance paramedics, with support from the wider Wimmera.
Ambulance Victoria defines code one incidents as those requiring urgent paramedic and hospital care, such as road crashes.
Code two incidents are acute and time sensitive, but do not require a lights and sirens response - such as a broken leg.
Hindmarsh Shire patients waited the longest of any in the Wimmera for an ambulance in the same three months, an average of 34 minutes and 50 seconds.
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