Ambulance Victoria (AV) data has been released, revealing response times across Geelong and the Surf Coast.
Across the final quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, Barwon South West region crews responded to 7,323 Code 1 cases.
AV aims to attend to Code 1 cases, or incidents requiring a lights and sirens response, within 15 minutes.
The Greater Geelong local government area (LGA) has been named the busiest in the state.
Across the quarter, paramedics were called to almost 5,000 Code 1 cases, accounting for just over 5% of the state’s total workload.
The LGA has recorded an average response time of 14 minutes and 8 seconds, up 13 seconds compared to this time a year ago.
Meanwhile, in the Surf Coast LGA, only 54.8% of Code 1 cases were attended to within 15 minutes, with the average wait time sitting at 17 minutes.
Between April and June, Lara saw the biggest improvement across the state, with paramedics responding to 70.9% of these calls within 15 minutes.
That’s an increase from 64.7% a year ago, the average wait time down almost a minute to 13 minutes and 49 seconds.
AV has thanked people who’ve sought alternative care for non-urgent issues, saying it saves resources for emergencies.
“We’ve already seen a 3.7 per cent jump in Code 1 demand since the first three months of 2025,” Barwon South West Regional Director Stuart Reid said.
“Winter is always our busiest time. Our paramedics are focused on reaching the sickest patients first — but every day, more than 500 calls to Triple Zero (000) don’t need an emergency ambulance.
“There are many options people can access when they need timely medical care and health advice but don’t need an emergency ambulance, including the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department and Urgent Care Clinics.
“Our expert Secondary Triage team — made up of nurses and paramedics — plays a vital role by connecting people with the right care and freeing up ambulances for life-threatening emergencies. Between April and June alone, they redirected 46,015 non-urgent cases away from an emergency response.”
