News

Recently the VAU was informed by our ESTA delegates of changes to call-taking and dispatch protocols which will affect our members. Specifically, the event type BREATHING PROBLEMS: INEFFECTIVE BREATHING has been changed from a Priority 1 to Priority 0 dispatch.

This change came into effect on 22 November 2023. The VAU was not consulted on this change prior to it occurring. Members have reported a significant number of unnecessary Priority 0 responses including:

• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On MDT and arrival, patient sneezed and hurt back.
• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On arrival, renal colic.
• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On arrival and on MDT, diarrhoea and vomiting, patient referred to LMO.
• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On arrival, isolated cough, speaking full sentences with no respiratory distress. Had been to ED and referred to GP but hadn’t attended. Nil transport.
• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On MDT and on arrival, pain in back of neck. Nil transport.
• Crew sent to Priority 0 INEFFECTIVE BREATHING: On arrival, patient sitting upright with bags packed. History of productive cough for 2 weeks. Crew arranged taxi to hospital.

Increasing the number of Priority 0 cases means more interrupted meal breaks, more incidental overtime, and less MICA availability to respond to actual emergencies. We are also no closer to fixing the problem we all know needs to be addressed by developing a fit-for-purpose call taking system that aligns dispatch priority with actual patient acuity.

The VAU has advocated that AV and ESTA work together to complete the unfinished Revised Ambulance Dispatch (RAD) project which placed a paramedic into the call-taking process prior to a crew being dispatched. However, when we requested a copy of the business case under Freedom of Information so the union could assist in advocating for this reform, AV refused.

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