Ambulance Victoria

drongo & wendy · Senior Member

Ambulance Victoria

JRH · Guru

drongo & wendy wrote:

This may mainly concern Vic. travelers. Wendy just got of the phone to see if we were covered Auss. wide in the off chance we need an ambulance. Vic ambulance covers pension card holders Auss wide, u may get a bill but u write your cover number on it and send to ambulance Vic. and there is no cost to u , other states the girl on the phone did not know.
Foot note ;   Vic. ambulance does not cover getting u home to Victoria. The lady "STRESSED" DO NOT AND SHE REPEATED DO NOT PAY as u will be left holding the bill.

Hope that is of some help .

Well that it from me as we head out tomorrow morning and taking no PC    Have fun and we hope to meet a few while out there toodlessssssssssss nomads

Dave the Drongo        if any one wants mobile number get in touch with "PICKLES"

G'day,

Same with St John's Ambulance in WA just send them the bill from anywhere Aust wide with your pension number and they will pay for the Ambulance to a Public Hospital in the state you are visiting but will not pay for a ride back to WA.

Go to Page 26 Ambulance Cover to see an Email I received from St. John's Ambulance.

-- Edited by JRH on Tuesday 12th of May 2009 03:15:35 PM

dave06 · Guru

good luck stay safe, happy trails!!

Basil Faulty · Guru

In NSW you would be well advised to carry your own red & blue lights because if you call 000 for an ambulance and you are not in a built up area with a cross street an ambulance may not be able to find you... Forget about giving GPS Coodinates, you have to give the name of your nearest cross street....
Yet if you are on the coast, especially the south coast and call for help they dispatch a chopper from HMAS Albatroos....

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Having worked for AV, I can attest to the beauracracy within...
Anyway, I better stop right there, as I may be considering going back yet lol.

I am not aware of any Ambulance Service that will pay for your return to your domicile state, most (in case of health care card holders) pay for transport from scene of incident to hospital, and obviously your hospital is covered under the public system which is nothing to do with the Ambulance Service.

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Basil Faulty wrote:
In NSW you would be well advised to carry your own red & blue lights because if you call 000 for an ambulance and you are not in a built up area with a cross street an ambulance may not be able to find you... Forget about giving GPS Coodinates, you have to give the name of your nearest cross street....

When I seen that in the news I couldn't believe it.
How utterly dumb must said call taker feel now??

I don't know how it works up in NSW, although I can assure that if you provided GPS down here they would be used to locate you, as I have had to do that on one occassion. Obviously been city calltakers they think every place HAS to have a cross street. No such thing as '3 K's past the picnic area on the left', as we were used to down here.

dave06 · Guru

same in south australia we had a few deaths recently because the interstate emergency phone operator wasnt familiar with the area

Cruising Granny · Guru

Now that's scary. My ambo cover has expired, and so I went to the local pharmacy to pay up. They don't handle it. So I'm still looking where I'll pay here in Cairns.
Any clues?

If you were transported to a hospital by RFDS or ambo, I believe your return home may be covered by the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme available in every state. Ambulance is only available for Para-medical assistance and emergency medical transport.
The hospital you were in should have an office and a staff member who will be able to help and advise. I believe this is your ticket home.
If you're still a wage earner, or have means over and above their base rate, you may have to pay the first $50. Pensioners travel free. Some states also provide 2 taxi vouchers if you're going to the city for medical matters. One from the airport or bus/train station, and back again. Taxi vouchers are not available in Qld, but they are in WA. Don't know about the other states.
This is available if you live more than I think it's 100kms from the medical service your have to travel to, if it's not available in your home town or region.
I don't know what happens if you're a private patient with hospital cover. I do believe there is still a PATS component available.
It's not promoted or even recommended in some places, but it's out there, and it's yours if you ask for it. Check it out.
I worked for WA Health Service for 5.5 years, and I'm currently arranging transport to Brisbane for medical tests.
I hope this helps. Cheers Chris

Smokeydk · Guru

Talking of SA....last night a Ambulance...turned up at the Fire Station....the crew showed us over the vehicle...I've been in an Ambulance...on way to hospital....but last night was the first chance to look over one........its amazing how much gear they have stored....

My hat's is off to those very special people that crew the Ambulances...being a firefighter is such an easy job compared to theirs.

the crew last night were all volunteers.....they got a very big pat on the back..

Dave

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

Smokeydk wrote:
Talking of SA....last night a Ambulance...turned up at the Fire Station....the crew showed us over the vehicle...I've been in an Ambulance...on way to hospital....but last night was the first chance to look over one........its amazing how much gear they have stored....

Dave

Yep, can't comment for SA, but here in Vic all ambo's are decked out for MICA operation just in case a MICA (Intensive Care) officer happens to be in it or on-scene, so stuff like the RSI gear is carried in all ambulances.

It seems to be a lot of stuff when you look at it, although if you have been in the service you quickly realise how little you actually carry, it looks a lot but isn't. Roll up to a multi-trauma incident and you are looking at ways to maximise what you have on board to ensure everyone gets what they need.

dave06 · Guru

my wifes friend's brother is an ambo paramedic, we often have yaks about different things from my CfS days, he states categorically that when on scene a semi trailer load of gear is not enough, but I take my hat off to these boys and girls, they work miracles with what they have

it seems to me to be an Aladdin's cave of medical gear but it's all Greek to me, while I'm out vomiting these people are pulling victims from wrecks, give me a stubble fire any day!!! never could handle a road crash, too soft!!

VK3FEMT · Senior Member

dave06 wrote:
"while I'm out vomiting these people are pulling victims from wrecks, give me a stubble fire any day!!! never could handle a road crash, too soft!!"

A lot of people say this, and in fairness some people are just not cut out for it, although having said that, 99% of the time if those people came across a car prang they would usually do what they could to help until arrival of ES's.

People often ask me 'how can you do it' etc etc, but when you get a callout and get to a job you don't stand back and say 'look at all the blood!', you just get in and do what you have to without thinking about the notsonice bits. You do that later :))