This comes in the same week as triple-zero calls reached their highest level in five years on Monday.Northern Hospital in Epping — in the epicentre of the state’s Covid outbreak — admitted 362 patients through its emergency department on Tuesday. This follows a record number of 400 patients being admitted on Monday. The shock figure comes after footage of ambulances lining up outside the hospital was widely shared widely on social media.“The hospital is very busy as a streaming hospital – with three Covid Wards plus our ICU. Currently, we have 65 Covid patients in the hospital,” a Northern Health spokesman said.“We need to carefully screen patients for Covid-19, which means it is taking longer for us to receive patients into the emergency department. These are unprecedented times.”Victorian Ambulance Union general secretary Danny Hill said paramedics were already working in an “overwhelmed system” and pressure would only increase as case numbers climbed. “The rubber band is pulled as far back as it can possibly go and if there’s to be a Covid peak, it’s going to just double that pressure again,” he said. “That’s why the public … buying in and following the chief health officer’s directions is so important.” TRIPLE-ZERO CALL SURGETriple-zero calls in Victoria reached their highest level in five years on Monday as Covid-19 hospitalisations continue to spike. More than 3200 Victorians made ambulance calls on Monday, a number not seen since the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event. Marty Smyth, chief executive of the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, said numbers which were once only seen during busy weekends before the pandemic were now “almost a daily occurrence”. ESTA provides Victoria’s emergency call-taking and dispatch services for police, fire, ambulance and VICSES. “Since the pandemic, ambulance call demand has increased substantially, meaning ESTA’s workload has increased accordingly,” Mr Smyth said. “We are regularly seeing unprecedented numbers of calls now.”ESTA is recruiting workers to fill 43 full-time roles in response to its increased workload.“The new roles will help meet the growth in ambulance demand, improve police dispatch and radio support needs, and enable process changes to improve patient outcomes,” Mr Smyth said. “We are also offering overtime shifts to all workers and recalling operational employees seconded into projects across the organisation to help meet demand.”Victorian Ambulance Union general secretary Danny Hill was told triple-0 callers faced delays even while trying to reach a phone operator, with some reportedly on hold for 10 minutes. He said while that type of triple-0 delay was rare, the shocking footage outside the Northern Hospital in Epping — “as bad as it is” — wasn’t unusual. “I think we’ve seen much worse,” he said. “Mondays are a particularly busy day because there’s a backlog of work from over the weekend.” He said ramping — when paramedics have to continue caring for patients while parked in a hospital carpark due to lack of beds — had a flow-on effect. “It’s not uncommon, that level of ramping,” he said. “If there’s no beds then the ambulance has to stay and wait with the patient. “What that means is the crew is not available to respond to other patients in the community when they need assistance.“That has a flow-on effect to you or your friend not getting an ambulance if they break their leg playing footy or they have a car accident or a relative has a heart attack.” He said he worries rising Covid hospitalisations will see medical staff not save patients who otherwise would have been resuscitated. “There’s only so many resources even in a major hospital,” he said. “We’ve seen that overseas.“They stopped performing some resuscitation on severely unwell elderly people, because they didn’t have the resources.” He told the Herald Sun workers were doing their best, battling exhaustion and overtime hours. “Health workers are burnt out,” he said. “They’re not finishing their shifts on time when they do work. “They rely so much on paramedics working overtime on their days off, that’s been going on for decades.” A video posted online by Dr Amy Nicho shows at least 12 ambulances, plus a police vehicle, queued outside the Northern Hospital in Epping last night. Northern Hospital management blamed Covid screening processes – which means it takes longer to admit patients – and the large number of arrivals for Monday’s scenes. Debra Bourne Chief Operating Officer Northern Health said it was a “very busy day” in emergency, with 96 ambulance arrivals and more than 400 patients seen. “These are unprecedented times!” she said. “We need to carefully screen patients for COVID-19, which means it is taking longer for us to receive patients into the Emergency Department.“The hospital is very busy as a COVID-19 streaming hospital – with three Covid Wards plus our ICU. Currently, we have around 65 Covid patients in the hospital.” She urged the community to reserve the emergency department for “emergencies only” and, above all, get vaccinated. “This will help so much (in) relieving pressure on our hospitals,” she said. “I’m very proud of the commitment and professionalism of our staff in working so hard in creating capacity within the hospital.“We work in partnership with Ambulance Victoria and other health services in providing patients with the care they need.”It’s the same hospital where three men, reportedly trying to see a patient who died with Covid, allegedly assaulted police and security guards about midnight. An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said Covid placed a strain on the health system but reassured patients paramedics would always provide quality care until a bed became available. “The pandemic continues to have a significant and unprecedented impact on health systems, Ambulance Victoria and hospital emergency departments,” she said. “Where there are delays in accessing emergency departments, paramedics continue to provide high-quality care to patients.“Our staff are working extremely hard to manage the increasing demand while prioritising care to the sickest Victorians.“We ask the community continues to work with us by saving triple-0 (000) for emergencies and to consider other avenues for less urgent health needs, such as their GP, pharmacist or Nurse-On-Call (1300 60 60 24).”It comes as the Royal Melbourne Hospital made the decision to shut its Covid testing clinic after rising case numbers put pressure on its emergency department. The Herald Sun reported on Tuesday that the Grattan St screening clinic was being replaced by a public-run clinic at Melbourne University. A hospital spokeswoman said their clinic had been closed “permanently”. “The closure will provide our emergency department with additional capacity to manage theincrease of Covid positive presentations,” she said. “For all Victorians, we strongly encourage everyone who has the slightest symptoms toplease get tested immediately, and for those eligible to be please get vaccinated.”
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