Red escalation of ambulance services across Victoria

Ambulance Victoria has declared a Red Escalation across Victoria from 7am on Friday 9 January 2026, in response to the catastrophic fire danger declaration for the South West, Wimmera, North Central and North Country regions and in consultation with our emergency service partners.

For their safety, paramedics and first responders are being relocated from branches within declared regions of catastrophic fire danger risk and where those branches have been identified as high-risk due to their proximity to bushland and limited road access.

Crews will only be redeployed into these zones in the case of serious or life-threatening illness and only after a thorough risk assessment to consider the safety of our people.

Victorians are asked to follow official advice on VicEmergency for their own safety and the safety of emergency services personnel.

We remind the community to please access alternative care services including:

• The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department online 24/7
• NURSE-ON-CALL by calling 1300 60 60 24, 24 hours a day, seven days a week

In other areas of the state, the community can also seek non-urgent medical support via:

• Local Urgent Care Clinics, or
• visiting their GP or local pharmacist.

A Red Escalation is the highest level of Ambulance Victoria’s response framework and is declared when an incident is, or has the potential to, cause severe impact to normal operations. It enables Ambulance Victoria to activate its Emergency Response Plan and take additional actions beyond normal business operations to maintain community and paramedic safety and patient care.