Due to high levels of sick leave, at least twenty ambulance crews across regional Victoria were dropped on Saturday night.
Shortfalls in the number of mobile intensive care and advanced life support paramedics were recorded in Ballarat.
In a statement, the Secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, Danny Hill, says members rarely get breaks, almost never finish on time and they’re exhausted and burnt out.
He says if you don’t support the workforce, then the response to the community suffers.
The union also reported ambulance ramping at the Ballarat Base Hospital on the weekend.
A video shared to their Facebook page showed a number of ambulances parked at the hospital on Saturday afternoon, with their lights flashing.
This means they were ramped for more than 40 minutes.
The union says ramping means crews can’t respond to patients in the community and will probably be working hours of overtime.
A petition to Premier Jacinta Allan calling for better working conditions for Victorian paramedics and ambulance workers has received over 15,000 signatures.
