Illawarra residents who call Triple-0 are waiting longer than ever, with one in ten emergency patients in the southern part of the region waiting more than 37 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
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And, once they arrive at the hospital, severe bed block is causing record waiting times for patients to be transferred from paramedics' care.
Bureau of Health Information data, released on Wednesday, shows the slowest ambulance response times on record in the April-June quarter across NSW.
In the Illawarra, people in Shellharbour and Kiama were left waiting the longest, with half of the emergency "lights and sirens" cases waiting more than 17 minutes, which is longer than the state average.
The data also shows that less than one third (32.5 per cent) of Shellharbour and Kiama emergency cases were reached within the 15 minute benchmark.
This was the fifth slowest result in regional NSW, and lower than the state average of 35 per cent.
In Dapto-Port Kembla, the median time to reach emergency patients was 16 minutes, while in Wollongong it was 14 minutes.
For patients classed as "urgent" response times blew out ever more, with one in ten people waiting more than 1 hour and 38 minutes for an ambulance to arrive in Shellharbour and Kiama.
Paramedics say they are "alarmed" by the new statistics, with unions calling on the government to do more to improve response times.
"We're alarmed that response times are growing longer every quarter," Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) President Chris Kastelan said.
"The data shows very clearly that we're falling behind, but our Government is yet to take this seriously as a priority concern. Every minute matters in an emergency.
"When we can't get them an ambulance on time, it's devastating-for patients, their families, and for the attending Paramedics."
Mr Kastelan was also concerned about the long wait time for patients waiting to bed transferred to the ED.
"When transfer of care times blow out, Paramedics are left waiting outside hospitals and unavailable to respond to emergencies in their communities," he said.
How long you'll wait
...if you live in Wollongong
- Median time to reach emergency cases: 14 minutes (up from 12 minutes a year ago, stable from last quarter)
- Emergency cases reached within 15 minutes: 41.6% (down from 45.9% in Jan -Mar)
- Median time to reach urgent cases: 26 minutes (up from 24 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for emergency cases: 34 minutes (up from 32 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for urgent cases: 1 hour 35 minutes (up from 1 hour 24 minutes)
... if you live in Dapto-Port Kembla
- Median time to reach emergency cases: 16 minutes (up from 13 minutes a year ago, and 15 minutes last quarter)
- Emergency cases reached within 15 minutes: 35.4% (down from 37.5% in Jan-Mar)
- Median time to reach urgent cases: 27 minutes (up from 25 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for emergency cases: 34 minutes (up from 32 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for urgent cases: 1 hour 37 minutes (1 hour 20 minutesr)
If you live in Shellharbour and Kiama
- Median time to reach emergency cases: 17 minutes (up from 13 minutes a year ago and 16 minutes last quarter)
- Emergency cases reached within 15 minutes: 32.3 % (down from 36.7% in Jan-Mar)
- Median time to reach urgent cases: 28 minutes (up from 25 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for emergency cases: 37 minutes (up from 37 minutes)
- 90th percentile wait time for urgent cases: 1 hour 38 minutes (up from 1 hours 22 minutes)
Source: Bureau of Health Information Quarterly Report.
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