Ballarat region to receive 27 new paramedics: Brumby

THE Grampians region will get an extra 27 paramedics, including 3 MICA paramedics, under a state government shake-up of regional ambulance services.Premier John Brumby announced a $56 million package to place an extra 297 paramedics in regional Victoria at Woodend this morning.It comes two days after the Coalition announced a $151 million plan which would see an extra 49 paramedics in this region.Mr Brumby said the government was committed to delivering the highest quality ambulance service across regional and rural Victoria. ''That’s why we are investing in the largest single deployment of paramedics into rural and regional communities in the state’s history, providing a 30 per cent boost to the paramedic workforce in our regions,'' he said.''And that’s why we are delivering extra funding to establish 10 new MICA single responder units in regional and rural Victoria and an additional 48 MICA paramedics.'' The 10 new MICA single responder units will be based in Bairnsdale, Echuca, Horsham, Swan Hill, Mildura, Wodonga, Shepparton, Wangaratta, Warrnambool and Wonthaggi.Eight MICA response units currently operate in Ballarat, Bendigo, Morwell and Geelong.