Warrnambool ambulance union delegate David Ahearn said the distance between Geelong and Camperdown put enormous pressure on the Colac service which was reflected in Corangamite Shire’s response times.

Well over half of all ambulance call-outs in Corangamite take more than the acceptable standard of 15 minutes, according to figures obtained through Freedom of Information.

Corangamite has historically recorded the worst response times for south-west ambulances involved in code one (time-critical, lights and siren response) call-outs and recent figures obtained by paramedics’ union confirm that standing.

The average response time in Corangamite is 19 minutes and 27 seconds, with 57.3 per cent of the total of 719 call-outs failing to meet the Victorian benchmark time of 15 minutes.

Mr Ahearn said the large distances in the Colac/Corangamite region caused logistical issues, especially if ambulances had to be called in from Camperdown or Belmont.

He said Warrnambool was in a fortunate position due to its confined geographical area but problems developed when ambulances were pulled in from Mortlake or Port Fairy to cover the city.

“We are lucky that our ambulance officers come in on our days off to help provide coverage,” he said.

“It’s a numbers game. There’s resources being shuffled around to cover areas. That’s when we get stretched. 

“It’s the nature of the service — you never know where the next job is going to come up. It’s called risk management but it’s far from a precise science.”

Mr Ahearn said the ambulance union was calling for more resources in large country areas and outer-lying city areas where the service had not kept pace with population growth.

“One of the positives out of the state election is that the minister of health is now also the minister for ambulance services. That is more likely to lend itself to a co-operative approach,” Mr Ahearn said.

“There is also talk about a working party to include ambulance representatives to look at response times and hospital ramping, which is particularly a problem in Melbourne and Geelong when we can’t get a patient a bed and get back onto the road.”

Of the other south-west municipalities, Warrnambool is among the best in Victoria with an average of 11.04 minutes, and 84 per cent of call-outs at less than 15 minutes. The latest figures cover 12 months from January 2013.

Acting chief executive of Ambulance Victoria (AV) Andrew Way said although the response times were not as good as they should be, AV was recording excellent clinical outcomes for the most time-critical patients.

Throughout Victoria, the average response time to an urgent case in 2013 ranged from 10 minutes in the City of Melbourne to 26 minutes in Mansfield near Mount Buller.