The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) claims that nine out of eighteen ambulances across southern Tasmania were “ramped” on Monday afternoon.
The union says each was unable to respond to further emergencies due to patients waiting for beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital’s emergency department.
“[Monday] was absolute chaos for our ambulance service,” HACSU state secretary Robbie Moore told the ABC.
“We had all vehicles that were available deployed, we had seven that had been ramped for a considerable amount of time.”
“It was a very unsafe time for all southern Tasmanians. While [paramedics are] ramped, they’re unable to respond to other emergency situations and unfortunately we know there were delays in response times as a result of the crisis that was happening yesterday afternoon.”
He said Monday’s events were “not a one-off”.
“We’re seeing this happen more and more where there are no ambulances available to respond to emergencies … this is happening more than once a week both in Launceston and in Hobart,” Moore said.
A screenshot of Ambulance Tasmania’s dispatch system shared on social media also revealed that the three available crews were not regular ambulances and were not equipped to respond to emergency situations.
The union is calling for an offload procedure that would allow paramedics to leave the hospital within an hour of arriving to ensure available ambulances for emergencies.
The Health Department says around 70% of patients are transferred within the one-hour window, but the goal is to achieve it for all patients.
A spokesperson attributed the surge in emergency department presentations and ambulance call-outs to “injuries and illnesses linked to seasonal activities” during the summer holidays.
The state government say they are taking action to address ramping and bed block at a hospital level while investing significantly in the ambulance service.
