The QAS is one of the largest ambulance services in the nation and the QAS responds to over 1,679 Code 1 emergencies every single day.
It is important to remember that our responses and their codes are dependent on the severity of an incident. Code 1As are our sickest and most critically ill patients and require an immediate response under lights and sirens. These could be cardiac arrest patients, those in devastating car crashes, a severe asthma attack or a drowning in a backyard pool.
Those patients with lower, more non-life-threatening injuries or illness may not receive an immediate response while we prioritise our most critical patients.
Below is a breakdown of our performance this quarter for the current financial year.
Summary of July 2024 to September 2024 performance
The QAS continues to experience significant growth in demand for services in the 2024-25 financial year.
Despite this growth in demand, our Triple Zero (000) call taking performance was 89.9% of calls answered within 10 seconds and our average response time to our most vulnerable patients was 8.7 minutes.
During the first quarter of this financial year, the QAS experienced an increase of 14% of Code 1 incidents. Our officers attended an average of 2,707 Code 1 and 2 incidents per day and transported an average of 3,101 patients. During this period, 303,956 Triple Zero (000) calls were received by QAS Operations Centres across the state.
Triple Zero (000) calls
On average, we answer over 3,300 Triple Zero (000) calls per day.
For many patients experiencing an emergency, Triple Zero (000) is the first entry into the health system. It is important that an emergency call to Triple Zero (000) is answered as quickly as possible to prioritise the situation. This allows us to arrange for the immediate dispatch of an ambulance vehicle in an actual time critical situation and to coordinate the appropriate responses to patients who require a less urgent response.
Based on the priority code of the patient, we will maintain clinical oversight to ensure the safety of those patients waiting in the community. This team, known as the QAS's Clinical Hub, acts as a second set of clinical eyes after patients have been prioritised by an Emergency Medical Dispatcher on the phone. The Clinical Hub will ensure these patients are risk assessed and maintain a level of care, either by telephone or telehealth, to ensure their condition is monitored. If the condition of the patient changes, the Clinical Hub will enable the escalation of a QAS ambulance response.
In the first quarter of the 2024–25 financial year, we answered 89.9% of Triple Zero (000) calls within 10 seconds.
The graph below provides a breakdown of our performance this quarter for the current financial year.
Graph: Triple Zero (000) calls and performance
Response time
Response time is measured from the time the Triple Zero (000) call is answered in one of our Operations Centres through to the arrival of the first paramedic at the scene.
There are two performance measures—50th percentile and 90th percentile. This represents the time it takes to attend 50% and 90% of incidents, respectively.
Percentile targets are set at a statewide level, with our aim to arrive at 50% of incidents in 8.2 minutes and 90% of incidents in 16.5 minutes.
We continue to prioritise the most critical (Code 1A) patients across the state.
In the first quarter of the 2024–25 financial year, the response performance for Code 1A was 8.7 minutes (50th percentile) and 17.5 minutes (90th percentile).
The graph below provides a breakdown of our performance by quarter for the 2024-25 financial year for our most time critical (Code 1A) patients.
Graph: Code 1A incidents and response time performance
