Ambulance services of Victoria

Since 1 July 2008 Emergency ambulance services in Victoria have been provided by a single provider known as Ambulance Victoria. It was formed from the three previous providers of emergency ambulance services: the Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS), Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV), and the Alexandra District Ambulance Service (ADAS).

The MAS was responsible for Melbourne and its outer suburbs while RAV was responsible for regional and rural areas of Victoria, except for the Alexandra, Marysville, and Eildon areas, which was serviced by ADAS [3].

All services of Ambulance Service Victoria operate pursuant to the Ambulance Services Act 1986.

In addition, a number of non-emergency patient transport companies operate under the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Act 2003 are use conventional ambulance equipped with emergency lights and sirens, and sometimes attend emergency cases.

In some remote areas, Ambulance Victoria oversees volunteer "Community Emergency Response Teams" (CERTs) to deliver first aid before professional paramedics can attend to an emergency victim. [4] CERTs do not transport patients. "Ambulance Community Officers" offer similar services as individuals. [5]

In 1883 as a result of a public meeting, a branch of the St. John Ambulance Association was set up with the aim of teaching home nursing and first aid to as many people as possible. 1887 saw enough money raised to purchase six Ashford Litters which were placed at police stations. It wasn't until 1899 that Melbourne's first ambulance station was opened at the rear of the Windsor Hotel off Bourke street. It housed one horse drawn ambulance and was bought with money raised by the Association of Ladies of St John.

On 26 May 2008, the government confirmed that from 1 July 2008 all ambulance services within Victoria would combine and operate under the one banner of Ambulance Victoria. This meant that Victoria would come into line with other states, having one ambulance service for the whole of the state.

It is stated in the 2009-10 Annual report that Ambulance Victoria has 2143 operational Ambulance Paramedics and 416 MICA Paramedic. There are also 613 operational support and management staff.

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