Calling 000 but don’t need an ambulance? Your call may end up here
Staff say nearly half of triple zero calls to ambulance do not require immediate attention as an expanded team of operators moves into new offices on Brisbane’s north side.
Approximately 3800 calls are made to Triple Zero each day, with approximately 1800 of these being directed to the Queensland Ambulance Service Clinical Center at the Emergency Service Complex at Kedron.
The centre’s upgrade, which will be announced by the Queensland government on Tuesday, will more than double its capacity to prevent unnecessary hospital trips and ease pressure on crowded emergency departments.
The initiative launched in 2020 to help hospitals and first responders cope with the influx of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It provided care or advice to more than 33,000 Queenslanders between July and December last year.
Director Sam Herring said it initially had a small team working just 16 hours a day.
It currently employs more than 140 staff, including senior paramedics, doctors, nurses, mental health clinicians and allied healthcare staff, and provides 24-hour care to patients across the state.
QAS said it received a Triple Zero call every 24 seconds, reaching more than 335,000 calls in the final three months of last year.
Herring said those who don’t need an ambulance can instead be helped from the clinical center or another referral service.
“[Our team] can do more research, [for example a] “Video or telehealth over the phone to learn more about what’s going on for the patient,” he said.
“Sometimes the emergency room may not be the best or most timely place to present… and maybe we can provide better care to people in a more convenient way in a way that already exists in the community.”
Current analysis of public hospital performance data found that demand for emergency services statewide has increased 4.5 percent in the past five years.
While the number of emergency admissions remained steady, less than half of patients were treated in less than four hours.
This affected ambulance surge rates, with 41 per cent of patients ramping for longer than the recommended time in 26 of the state’s public hospitals.
On Sunday Crisafulli’s government published new figures claiming increases had reached a five-year low in the final quarter of 2025, but still fell short of a 30 per cent target.
Sandra Garner, director of integrated multidisciplinary care programs, said the center at Kedron is about “providing the right care at the right time.”
“If we really understand a person’s needs thoroughly, we can often direct them to more appropriate care,” he said.
The center’s $8.31 million expansion was completed this week. Herring said this milestone shows how important the service has become.
“We’ve gone from a one-size-fits-all approach; if I say triple zero, it’s two people in a vehicle at my front door. Most of the time, that’s still going to happen, but [now we look at] What does the patient really need?
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