Excellence in Technology Surge Work-from-Home Operating Model

Ambulance Victoria

Team: Gareth Becker, Lindsay Mackay, Diana Zimmermann, Caley Geary, Angela Iliopoulos, Flynn Snell, Paul Crole, Jenny Davis, Catherine Spiden, Tom Bawden, Larissa Walsh, Patrice Bottcher, Hayden Peucker, Nicole Magnuson

In preparation to respond to pandemic-related impacts on emergency medical services (EMSs) in Victoria, Australia, Ambulance Victoria (AV) designed both a surge response and a work-from-home (WFH) operating model within their Secondary Triage Services. This WFH operating model provided significant capability to manage the overwhelming demand of Triple Zero (000) calls during the height of the pandemic, whilst simultaneously managing the increased risk of higher staff furlough.

The Surge WFH operating model led by AV Secondary Triage Services aimed to establish the world’s first WFH operating model, whereby EMS Triage Practitioners were able to access Triple Zero (000) callers and the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) application that is used to identify available ambulance unit(s) to respond to emergency events outside of the work-based setting. The design and development of the Surge WFH operating model involved vital technical and procedural enhancements, and since inception in October 2020, has shown to be effective in minimising staff furloughing and delivering greater surge capacity during peakperiods of demand.

This surge response and WFH operating model can now be used as a blueprint for EMS around the globe to develop and implement an operating model, that is resilient to the pressures of increasing Triple Zero (000) demand during unprecedented times.

The overarching aim of this project was to establish an operating model that allowed Triage Practitioners in AV’s Secondary Triage Services to continue to work during times of furlough as well as be able to immediately surge up in response to high workload demand. In doing so, the project aimed to:

• Build a safe and resilient operating model that would minimise the risk of staff exposure to COVID-19, and thereby reduce the impacts of staff furloughing during the pandemic.

• Establish an operating model that could increase surge capacity immediately during peak periods of demand, to ensure Triple Zero (000) callers had timely access to the care they need, when they needed it.