AMBULANCE Victoria’s ‘Medium Acuity Transport Service’ (MATS) is expanding into regional Victoria, with a new ambulance crew operating out of the Shepparton ambulance branch from Monday this week.
The new paramedic team is on board and dedicated to attending less-urgent emergency calls, freeing up more ambulances for the most critically ill patients.
Ambulance Victoria Hume acting regional director, Narelle Capp said that MATS had been a major success in metro areas, with MATS crews responding to around 60 cases daily and 2,320 emergency incidents in the first month of operation.
“This is exciting for our paramedics in Shepparton, as we’ve seen real benefits coming from the MATS crews in Melbourne,” Ms Capp said.
Across the state, the MATS service is comprised of 22 vehicles and 165 dedicated staff providing the very best response to Code 2 and 3 patients between 9am and 11pm every day.
“MATS teams make a real difference ensuring less-urgent calls get the high expertise and care that the community expects while having a positive impact on workload pressures being experienced by paramedics,” said Ms Capp.
The unique service also partners paramedic recruits with experienced paramedics, allowing senior paramedics to impart valuable knowledge to new colleagues. Ambulance Victoria are also recruiting 56 on-road paramedics to deliver additional services throughout rural Victoria.
