Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance and Orbost Fire Brigades are among nine CFA brigades that are trained and ready to respond to select medical Triple Zero calls as part of a new program that officially started last month.
The new Fire Medical Response program is a joint initiative of CFA and Ambulance Victoria that will see CFA brigades and Ambulance Victoria dispatched simultaneously to cardiac arrests.
The other brigades kicking off the program are Euroa, Tatura, Numurkah, Yarrawonga, Huntly and Kyneton.
Bairnsdale Brigade Captain Aaron Lee said the decision to join the program was an easy one to make given the benefits it will provide the East Gippsland community.
“What this program means is that community members who call for an ambulance may receive both a fire truck and an ambulance. There is no specific order in which the services arrive to the incident,” Cpt Lee said.
The three local brigades have been training with Ambulance Victoria for months, in preparation for the program which will complement the Ambulance Victoria service in the local area.
CFA Deputy Chief Officer Garry Cook said the program was a natural fit for CFA because of the 52,000 volunteers across the state.
“CFA has more than 1100 volunteer fire stations with more than 52,000 members,” Deputy Chief Officer Cook said.
“This puts CFA in a unique position to complement the Ambulance Victoria response in 50 locations across Victoria to help deliver early intervention to cardiac arrests.”
Ambulance Victoria executive director of regional operations, Danielle North, said Victoria’s cardiac survival rates are one of the best in the world, thanks to high rates of early intervention.
“The Fire Medical Response program will improve survival rates for people in rural and regional Victoria,” Danielle said.
“Quick intervention with CPR and a defibrillator has the greatest impact on improving a patient’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.
“For every minute that CPR is delayed, survival decreases by 10 per cent.”
By the completion of the program rollout, 50 strategically selected CFA brigades around Victoria will participate in the program.
These brigades are located across Victoria in areas that can best complement the Ambulance Victoria response where a CFA brigade may be able to reach a patient sooner.
