Victorians can today say a collective ‘thanks’ to the paramedics, ambulance volunteers and patient transport officers who have responded to them in their time of need.

Ambulance Victoria CEO, Associate Professor Tony Walker, said that while paramedics and volunteers never expect to be thanked for doing their job, they are grateful for the many messages of support and thanks they receive from patients and their loved ones.

“Days like today are a wonderful opportunity to connect with the community that we serve and acknowledge the important role they play in helping us deliver the best care possible,” he said.

This year, four patients are reunited with paramedics on Thank a Paramedic Day:

·         One-year-old Sadie Dodd who became critically unwell with a rare virus when she was nine days old and spent the next nine days in a coma in hospital.

·         Tim Stinear, who was revived by paramedics when he suffered a cardiac arrest as a young man 30 years ago. He is now a molecular microbiologist, university professor and father of three.

·         Trent Wilkinson, 30, who survived a rare and usually fatal lung injury when his chest was crushed in an accident in April 2019 – only weeks after his third child was delivered in the back of an ambulance.

·         Stroke survivor and new father Paul Fink, who had to re-learn how to read, write, talk, walk and communicate after a devastating brain bleed.

Professor Walker said: “As paramedics, we rarely receive updates from our patients after we treat and transport them to hospital. That’s why this day is so important – because it gives us a chance to see the real effect it has on the lives of Victorians and their families.”

Anyone wanting to get involved on Thank a Paramedic Day can take to social media using the hashtag #ThanksAmbos to post their message of support.

Ambulance Victoria CEO Associate Professor Tony Walker

“Ambulance Victoria welcomes the Victorian Ombudsman’s report and we accept all recommendations.

“We are committed to continual improvement and are changing our billing practices to ensure patients are appropriately billed for the care they receive.

“Ambulance is not a free service in Victoria. Patients who do not have a membership, concession entitlement or other coverage are required to pay for the high quality care they receive.

“We will always provide all our patients the highest quality care irrespective of whether or not they have the capacity to pay for the service.

“We proposed several changes to improve our billing practices and will:

• Split charges evenly among patients when paramedics have treated but not transported multiple patients
• Cease charging for treatment without transport where an ambulance is called by an unknown third party and the patient did not know or could not have reasonably consented to an ambulance being called, including when an ambulance is called by police
• Ensure our billing staff consider the unique circumstances of each case and exercise discretion when dealing with disputed invoices for treatment without transport.

“We have cancelled the invoice that led to this complaint and let the patient know that he is not required to pay for this case.

“We will refund all patients with evidence of paying for treatment without transport in similar circumstances over the past 12 months. They can contact us by calling 9840 3530.

“More information about our fees can be found here

“Ambulance Victoria’s vision to provide outstanding emergency healthcare, every time, extends across the organisation and every interaction with our patients.

“We thank the Victorian Ombudsman in bringing these matters to our attention.”

Ambulance Victoria Service Fees

Ambulance Victoria Memberships

Victorian Ombudsman’s Report

Ambulance Victoria’s current Fixed Wing Aircraft fleet has completed over 40,000 flying hours since being introduced to the service in 2011.

40,000 flying hours is equivalent to approximately 500 flights around the world, or 20 visits to the moon and back.

The total hours are spread across a fleet of four Beechcraft Super King Air B-200 that operate from Essendon Airport and are managed by contractor Pel-Air aviation.

“Pel-Air do commendable work in partnership with Ambulance Victoria to deliver a service to the Victorian community, including the residents of our neighbouring states as required,” says Manager of Air Operations at Ambulance Victoria Anthony De Wit.

The aircraft have completed more than 2,850 days of work when measured against their average 14-hr working day responding to up to 10 cases.

Since their introduction, they have required 531 tyre changes to support approximately 58,100 landings.

The air ambulance fleet of four aeroplanes and five helicopters – based at Essendon, the Latrobe Valley, Bendigo and Warrnambool – provide a vital link between rural communities and metropolitan health services.

The fixed-wing aircrft are routinely used to perform inter-hospital transfers for regional Victorians needing to visit larger metropolitan hospitals to receive specific medical care, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy in non-emergency cases.

These transports are generally undertaken when the distance is greater than 150 kilometres from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and priority is given to patients who are furthest away.

The advantage of a fixed-wing aircraft is that they can travel faster and further than a helicopter, and have additional transport capacity.

In contrast, most helicopter callouts are for life-threatening emergencies, which are mainly trauma and paediatric cases, with a small amount of search and rescue.

The advantage of a helicopter is it can land in many places and is not restricted to an airport runway.

The fixed-wing aircraft – typically staffed by ALS Flight Paramedics – and helicopters – staffed by MICA Flight Paramedics – reach across Victoria and into parts of southern New South Wales, northern Tasmania and parts of South Australia.

In 2017-2018, they responded to 7,241 incidents.

Ambulance Victoria has posted its best-ever statewide quarterly response time data, with 84.2 per cent percent of Code 1 ambulances reaching patients within 15 minutes.

This represents a 1.2 percentage point increase on the same period last year.

The improvement came in spite of a strong increase in demand, with paramedics attending 73,318 cases in the quarter, an increase of 5705 cases compared with the previous period.

Ambulances arrived at emergencies within an average 11:04 minutes in the three months to the end of March, an improvement from 11:23 a year prior.

AV’s Chief Executive Officer Associate Professor Tony Walker said the response performance improvement follows transformational reforms and significant investment in ambulance services.

“This investment has included the deployment of an additional 450 paramedics across the state as part of a $500 million investment that includes extra vehicles, new resources, and new and upgraded ambulance branches,” he said.

“We are working hard to continue to improve our response times, which improved year-on-year in almost three-quarters of the Local Government Areas across the state.

“Our aim is to give every patient the best care, every time. Improved response times are leading to improved patient outcomes, especially for cardiac arrest, stroke and trauma patients.”

Read more: Ambulance Victoria Performance 2018-2019 Quarter 3

When 69-year-old Frank had a stroke in March 2019 he was fortunate to access the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine (VST) service at Ballarat Base Hospital, a service that is saving lives and improving outcomes for thousands of Victorians.

The statewide VST service is unique in Australia and has now helped 5,000 regional Victorian patients at 17 regional hospitals, including more than 300 patients in Ballarat.

The first hour following a stroke is critical and through VST expert neurologists can use telemedicine to diagnose patients suspected of stroke and advise on treatment.

Stroke telemedicine means 94 per cent of Victorians are within an hour’s reach of world class, lifesaving stroke care.

Frank was with a friend in Ballarat when he began having difficulty speaking and couldn’t pick up tools he wanted to use.

Frank didn’t want to go to hospital or call an ambulance so his friend called Frank’s partner, Leanne, who sensed that he was having a stroke and immediately drove him to Ballarat Base Hospital. Thanks to a stroke telemedicine consultation at the hospital, Frank was treated with clot-busting medication and transported to Melbourne for endovascular clot retrieval.

“We were in Ballarat and the Melbourne neurologist was talking to us through a video screen at the end of the bed, it was like we had Melbourne at the foot of the bed,” Leanne said.

“We had three paramedics including a MICA paramedic with us on the Ambulance trip to Melbourne.”

“The amount of care was just brilliant.”

Frank said the process “was faultless from beginning to end.”

“A month on, the doctor says I’m progressing well,” he said. Each day I feel better”.

Stroke patient Frank and Dr Kraemer in Ballarat having a VST consultation with Professor Chris Bladin

Professor Chris Bladin, Director Stroke Services at Ambulance Victoria, said time saved is brain saved.

“Patient care is priority one and ensuring stroke victims like Frank get the right treatment quickly, through fast expert diagnosis, is imperative,” Professor Bladin said.

VST enables doctors at regional hospitals to have 24-hour access to a neurologist or stroke specialist who can assess the results of a patient’s CT scan.

Brain scan

A telemedicine cart, also known as a teledoc, allows the specialists to review the patient remotely via a video link from their laptop.  The expert reviews the brain scan and talks to the patient and the local medical staff via a secure video link, providing diagnosis and advice. They may recommend the use of a thrombolytic drug to dissolve the clot in the patient’s brain.

There is a critical four-and-a-half hour window for suspected stroke patients to receive clot-busting drugs. With

stroke telemedicine, patients are receiving clot-busting drugs on average 40 minutes earlier and often within an hour of arrival at hospital.

For Michelle from Shepparton, the beach was a place where her very best memories were made.

She loved the beach – and all that it represented – for her entire life.

Michelle would close her eyes and just listen while her children messed about, playing for hours in the sunshine and sand.

Michelle’s children have reached out to Ambulance Victoria, and the Mordialloc Life Saving Club, to say thank you for helping fulfil their mother’s final wish to visit the beach one last time.

Fifty-four-year-old Michelle passed away on Tuesday 26 February after a long fight with breast cancer, which had recently spread throughout her body.

Her children – Alex, Victoria, Sebastian, and Charlotte – expressed their gratitude to Ambulance Victoria for making one of their mother’s final moments so memorable.

“We wanted to thank you for giving us the opportunity to take mum to the beach one final time. It has made us feel so thoroughly supported,” Alex said.

“It’s a really awful thing seeing someone in a palliative environment, and this gave Mum the opportunity to be a person again, a person that does the things that they like to do as opposed to being a sick person that has to be in hospital. It gave her the chance to feel like she was just someone doing what they wanted to do on a normal afternoon.”

“For every family holiday growing up, we would go to the beach where she would just sit with her eyes closed, listening, while myself and my three siblings messed about,” Alex said.

“She had that opportunity again thanks to Ambulance Victoria and I will be forever grateful to you all.”

Alex says the day itself was bittersweet, as Michelle sat with her eyes closed and reflected on previous visits to different beaches throughout her life, reminiscing with her children about trips to Torquay, and to Robe in South Australia.

In a picture taken on the day of the visit, Michelle was surrounded by her family.

Alex explains: “When mum was initially diagnosed in early 2017, she was only given six to nine months to live, and she was pretty upset but she turned to me and said: ‘I’m determined to see my grandchildren’”.

“Her first grandchild, Evie, my niece, was born in mid-December 2018. She was able to spend two-and-a-half months with her.”

Since her passing, Michelle’s children have created a McGrath Foundation fundraising page for friends and family to donate in lieu of flowers. Two weeks on, they have raised over $7,500.

“When you lose someone who is so young – she was only 54-years-old, and we’re all in our 20s – it just feels so unfair, and it feels like the world is against you,” Alex said.

“I think that the fundraising has helped us give meaning to something that has no meaning.”

Michelle’s children have specifically asked for their fundraising efforts to be directed to Breast Care Nurses.

McGrath Breast Care Nurses are registered nurses who are specially trained to manage the care of people with breast cancer from diagnosis, and throughout the course of their treatment.

A McGrath Breast Care Nurse usually has a background in oncology, breast care or women’s health, and – like in Michelle’s case – can help make the transition into palliative care a smoother process for patients and their families.

“Mum had a Breast Care Nurse in her last month who was always coming around to make sure she was okay, having discussions between palliative care and oncology, and just providing advice,” Alex said.

“So many people that die of breast cancer don’t die because of the cancer in their breast specifically. They die of complications arising from the cancer spreading, so you’re dealing with so many issues that are sort of unrelated to breasts but ultimately come down to it being a breast cancer diagnosis,” Alex said.

“There are just a whole lot of factors to consider, and the Breast Care Nurses are amazing at being an intermediary between different specialities.”

Alex says that he, his siblings and their family are remembering Michelle for the amazing and supportive mother and woman that she was.

To honour her wishes, they will spread Michelle’s ashes at her favourite beach, at her sister’s house in Tasmania.

More therapy dogs are being recruited to help Victoria’s paramedics better deal with the daily challenges they face in responding to emergencies and saving lives.

Bruce, the first peer support dog has made a real difference to the lives and mental health of paramedics by helping them cope with the traumatic, confronting and life-threatening emergencies they regularly encounter.

The six-year-old, specially-trained and affectionate labrador has made 260 location visits interacting with paramedics 2900 times in a six-month trial.

Ambulance Victoria Chief Executive Officer, Associate Professor Tony Walker said the expansion of the program, making it statewide, demonstrates Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of our staff.

“Our two new furry friends, Lexi (a bernese mountain dog) and Callie (a standard schnauzer), and their handlers paramedics and Peer Support Responders Jo Algie, and Rob Simons, will soon join  Bruce and his handler Ken Whittle on metropolitan and  regional visits.”

The expanded program, announced by Minister for Ambulance Services Jenny Mikakos, will be applied across Victoria to maximise exposure to paramedics to help them through difficult moments, reduce stress and deliver better mental health outcomes.

The integrated program – the first of its kind for an Australian ambulance service – has also raised awareness of mental health support and reduced the stigma attached to seeking help, encouraging paramedics to ‘open up’ and talk to their peers.

Associate Professor Walker said he was absolutely delighted to be able to open up the opportunity for Ambulance Victoria employees to apply to be a part of the peer support dog program.

Fifteen years before she trained as a paramedic, Luanne Willingham, mother of a five year old boy, was the victim of a domestic assault. While she now speaks freely about the incident, it took over seven years to talk about the 2001 event that became the driver of her ambition.

Ms Willingham said: “I was seriously assaulted and paramedics saved my life, so the best way to thank them was to become a paramedic myself, and do for someone else what paramedics did for me.”

“Without them I would not be here, and I have another three beautiful children that would not exist.”

Ms Willingham was assaulted so badly she was in a coma. Even so, she remembers hearing the paramedics’ voices saying ‘can you open your eyes Luanne?’ and ‘Squeeze my hand Luanne!’

For years she had nightmares that she was being chased by the person who assaulted her, in public, on a bus, on a train and following her down a hallway. It was when a family friend was in a coma in the last stages of cancer that she gained the courage, inspiration and strength to face her nightmares and talk about the assault.

After several difficult years that included financial struggle, homelessness and emotional struggles, Ms Willingham built a new life with a new partner in Melbourne and had three more children.

When her youngest child was going to kindergarten she started thinking about what direction her life would now take and, over the years, she found herself thinking about the paramedics that saved her life and the impact they had. She decided that would be her next challenge.

Studying paramedicine also had some unexpected benefits.

“For years after, I had recurring dreams about the assault, but over the time I was studying my dreams became less and less frequent,” she said. “I would have one approximately every 12 months as opposed to four or five over a year.”

“I feel that my life now has validated what happened and my recovery from it. I believe everything in life is a reflection of what you have been through. For every negative there is a positive.

“The assault was the biggest negative in my life and out of that I have a massively positive outcome.”

“It’s also a great example to my children that from adversity can come positivity. It’s not what happens but how you respond,” she said.

“My experiences have shaped my strengths in the job which are my empathy for and rapport with patients. I am able to relate to patients no matter what their situation because I understand that sometimes people take time to process their issues.

Interestingly Ms Willingham’s son, who was five at the time of the assault, is now 23 and a serving police officer, also inspired by the help his mother received.

A domestic assault victim whose life was saved by paramedics, a former army nurse, and a woman following in her grandfather’s footsteps are among 135 paramedics officially graduating at a ceremony in Melbourne today.

“This is a new generation of paramedics who come from rich and varied backgrounds, and are part of the transformation under way at Ambulance Victoria,” said CEO Associate Professor Tony Walker.

“We know the impact our paramedics have on our community, delivering outstanding health outcomes each and every day,” Associate Professor Walker said. “Thanks to the work of our paramedics and first responders we are, on any clinical measure, one of the world’s best ambulance services.”

“This group of paramedics is entering a new and future-focused workforce, registered professionals who are part of a leading edge and progressive organisation, “Associate Professor Walker said.

“They will see progress in the area of technological change that will make us even more efficient, effective and connected.”

“These graduates are part of an Ambulance Service that provides prehospital healthcare service and is an intrinsic part of the health system. They provide triage, paramedical and specialist care in ways that every person they care for experiences the best possible care,” he said.

“It is also important that we look after ourselves and our people.”

“We know that providing a supportive work culture is like giving everyone in the organisation a mental health inoculation and we know that early intervention helps us all stay fit and well, on and off the job.”

“A unique aspect of our supportive culture is the Peer Support Dog Program and I am absolutely delighted that it is expanding.”

“In all my time in Ambulance Victoria, this program is one that has fundamentally shifted the way our people are encouraged to speak out about how they are feeling,” Associate Professor Walker said.

“Today’s graduates are part of a very special organisation – one committed to supporting them as they deliver the most fulfilling community service there is.”

Today’s graduating paramedics include:

Luanne Willingham – Luanne chose to pursue a paramedic career after surviving domestic assault.
“Paramedics saved my life, so the best way to thank them was to become a paramedic, and do for someone else what paramedics did for me. I feel that my life now has validated what happened and my recovery from it. I believe everything in life is a reflection of what you have been through. For every negative there is a positive.”
Interestingly Ms Willingham’s son who was five at the time of the assault is now 23 and a serving police officer who was also inspired by the help his mother received.

Emma Campisi – Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Colin Hicks, Advanced Life Support Paramedic in Robinvale with more than 40 years’ service. Ms Campisi says watching and working with him as an Ambulance Community Officer was all the inspiration she needed. The Ambulance service is very different from Mr Hicks early days when it was a basic pick up and run service. “Everything has evolved from the medications we administer, the technology available and the ability to give the best care to our patients,” he said. Mr Hick will be in the audience.

Steven Barrie – A former Nursing Officer in the Australian Army, Mr Barrie is now following his father’s path. His father is a MICA Paramedic in Foster and his mother a nurse unit manager, midwife and Ambulance Community Officer.
According to Mr Barrie, the best experience as a paramedic is the impact you can have as a first responder. “You are able to make a real difference to members of the community, you are at the point of injury when every decision has an impact on the outcome for that patient,” he said.

Molly Trumble – Ms Trumble trained in Fine Arts but the desire to be a paramedic was stimulated by seeing the care Ambulance Victoria paramedics gave a family member and ex-partner, who are both very sick. She wanted to provide care and attention to whoever required it where she could. Ms Trumble now says: “This job satisfies me in more ways than I thought. Both in the work I do, and in the ability to help people at what is often a crucial time in their life; this is their crisis. It exposes me to so many different situations and challenges while continually pushing me to learn and develop my skills.”

Kim Baker – An Ambulance Community Officer who made the decision to become a paramedic, aged 14, when her ill grandfather spoke glowingly of the care given to him by a paramedic. It was how his eyes lit up when he told the story of a female paramedic who helped him and who he had great admiration for, that clinched her ambition. Kim’s grandfather was in the Merchant Marines “As a tribute to him, I have had a ship wheel engraved next to my name on my stethoscope so he is always with me on the job.”

Emily Apolito – In her final year of study, Ms Apolito recognised heart attack symptoms in her father, called 000 and gave him aspirin. He went into cardiac arrest after paramedics arrived and Ms Apolito was able to assist paramedics. He has since recovered and will be in the audience.

Hamish Sloane – Survived a serious mountain bike accident at age 15 which led him to study paramedicine.
Mr Sloane says: “The paramedics seemed very relaxed, cool calm and collected.”
“At the time I thought they were the coolest guys in the world and I thought, ‘I want to do that’.”

Amanda Altman – Amanda is a popular cast member of the Paramedics TV series. She originated from Sydney and previously worked in hospitality.

Background

Of today’s 135 graduating paramedics 127 have all completed a university degree and have spent at least 12 months on-road before becoming Qualified Ambulance Paramedics. Eight have undertaken further study to become MICA Paramedics.

There are 82 women and 53 men, who are working in branches across the state with 25 based in regional Victoria
The Graduate Ambulance Paramedic (GAP) program is in its seventeenth year. The first program in 2002 had 18 graduate ambulance paramedics (all from Victoria University).

Graduate Ambulance Paramedics initially work under supervision of clinical instructors to assist with the transition from the classroom to the ‘real world’ and integrate into day-to-day team responsibilities and activities.

After completing the Graduate Ambulance Paramedic program, paramedics continue training for their entire careers. This continued professional development ensures Ambulance Victoria paramedics are able to provide the most up-to-date life-saving interventions and stay safe while they are doing so.

MICA Paramedics complete post graduate programs through Monash University as part of a contract that Ambulance Victoria has with the institution. Graduates receiving their Authority to Practice certificates at this year’s ceremony have successfully completed MICA Paramedics – Graduate Diploma in Emergency Health (MICA Paramedic).

In collaboration with Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne’s Monash University launched Australia’s first research unit looking at the mental and physical health and wellbeing of paramedics.

The idea for the Paramedic Health and Wellbeing Research Unit came about when MICA Flight Paramedic Ben Meadley started his PhD at Monash University, on the physical and metabolic health of paramedics. The PhD involves examining a range of health factors that impact paramedics across the career spectrum – from graduate paramedics to the most senior MICA paramedics.

Paramedics undertake a very important role in our society – providing emergency care and assistance to those in need. This role is often associated with poor sleep, stress and an increased risk of health problems. Left unchecked, these problems may escalate into higher levels of anxiety, stress, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The PHAWRU’s first study involves testing the fitness level of intensive care flight paramedics

Mr Meadley, discussed his idea of a unit that would bring together multiple disciplines and support from Ambulance Victoria with CEO, Associate Professor Tony Walker.

“It made sense to bring together in one unit all elements of research in ways to improve the lives and resilience of Victoria’s more than 3,400 paramedics and 578 MICA paramedics,” he said.

And Associate Professor Walker agreed.

“I then worked with a team of Monash University senior academic staff and Ambulance Victoria executive staff to develop the concept, which is designed to bring research areas together where collaborative research will occur to aid our understanding and improve paramedic health,” said Mr Meadley.

“We will be working with psychologists, physiotherapists, nutritionists, exercise physiologists as well as Ambulance Victoria to look at the current health and mental wellbeing of our paramedics and researching ways to make them healthier, mentally and physically,” he said.

Researching the fitness of MICA flight paramedics

Professor Karen Smith, Ambulance Victoria’s Director of the Centre for Research and Evaluation said AV needed to prioritise the health and wellbeing of its paramedics to ensure they could provide a quality service to their patients.

“This research unit is seen as a foundation for a larger research centre that prioritises the needs of the paramedic and paramedic student, to the same level as we do their patients.”

Paramedic and PhD student Brendan Shannon said the unit would have a vital role in providing an evidence base to help understand the causes of health and wellbeing challenges paramedics face and develop improvement strategies.

“Hopefully this can lead to paramedics continuing to have long and fulfilling careers and providing care to the best of our ability to the communities we serve,” he said.

The initiative is aligned to Ambulance Victoria’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy to support the  workforce through difficult moments, reduce stress and deliver better mental health outcomes. The work Ambulance Victoria paramedics do can be stressful and the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing is taken seriously.

The Paramedic Health and Wellbeing Research Unit is based at Monash University’s Peninsula campus in Frankston.