![Our paramedics deserve better and so do we Our paramedics deserve better and so do we](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36X6qGAW47CXknvUwBxme3p/c35e6e91-1813-45ed-9f6a-8fccced18811.jpg/r0_0_4830_3220_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
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Imagine waiting three or more hours in Warrnambool for an ambulance.
It's hard to fathom. In fact, it's just outright disgraceful.
We live in a first-world country - how is it possible Warrnambool only has two ambulances and one MICA paramedic single responder unit?
You know it's bad when a south-west paramedic openly admits speaking out on this crisis facing the region will have a detrimental effect on his career.
David Keane told The Standard this week: "I know my career won't progress any further as a result" of talking about these issues.
"This is our only chance to have a voice and be heard," he said.
"It's got to the point where people are suffering and will continue to do so unless Warrnambool gets a boost in its capabilities."
South West Coast MP Roma Britnell put it well when she said "... if people knew there was often one ambulance for 35,000 people, that's enough to send shivers down your spine."
What is Labor Western Victoria MP Jacinta Ermacora doing to help resolve this crisis?
What has she said about this? Not much publicly, it seems.
Her constituents can't even go to her office to express their worries or fears - more than 18 months after the 2022 election she still doesn't have a workspace that is open to the public.
Sure the state government might be broke but maybe it needs to get its priorities in order.
On Friday it announced $1 million for the Port Fairy skate park upgrade.
Of course, this is a valid and worthy upgrade, and will have health and social benefits for youth in our region and indeed adult board riders.
But one must ask, in this current healthcare crisis, could that $1 million have been better spent?
The state government has had a shocker of a week.
On Monday it announced community consultation would begin on parking fees along the Great Ocean Road.
Two days later it backflipped on that decision.
Strong leadership and deft decision-making seems to be lacking. Where is our voice to government for the region on its most pressing issues?
All we can hear is crickets.
Until next week, take care and stay safe.
Rachael Houlihan, deputy editor.