The sick leave of paramedics affected the number of ambulances operating in Victoria over the weekend.
According to the union, around 50 of them were taken off the roads.
Many of them had to travel over 60km to attend Code 1 cases, which prioritize life-threatening emergencies.
Some of the ambulances were sent to rural areas such as Warrnambool, Norlane, Hamilton, Mildura, Swan Hill, Heathcote, and Bendigo.
In Melbourne, around 30 ambulances were dispatched to areas such as Rowville, Brighton, North Melbourne, Oak Park, and Mordialloc.
According to Danny Hill, the secretary of the Ambulance Union of Victoria, paramedics are overworked and are often not able to finish their shifts on time.
He said the organization has been warning about the issue and that it needs to improve the support for its members.
The lack of support for the workforce has an adverse effect on the response of the emergency services to the community. Each night, there are around 120 ambulances on duty.
The union claims that only 90 of them were operational last night.
This comes after Jane Miller, the chief executive of Ambulance Victoria, resigned due to the increasing pressure from the industrial disputes.
In response to the increasing number of sick personnel, Ambulance Victoria noted that it had multiple crews on the road to provide the best possible service.
The organization also acknowledged the work of its paramedics, who are working extremely hard due to the seasonal nature of the illness.
Ambulance Victoria noted that it has multiple crews on the road to provide the best possible service. The priority of the organization is to respond to the most critically ill patients.
To minimize rostering impacts, it utilizes a dynamic approach to allocate resources.