Parents had to take 18-month-old to hospital after no ambulance was available

Chris and Sabrina Williams were at their West Wodonga home with their daughter, Autumn, who had turned blue, limp and stopped breathing after hitting her head.

She fell off a bed about 4pm on Monday and Mr Williams said he was "certain she was dead".

He said his daughter didn't breathe for about 15 seconds.

Mr Williams said he had called triple zero only to be told services were busy.

The parents had concerns the toddler could have had head, neck or spinal injuries.

"About five minutes later, a medic called and said they were too busy and it would take a few hours, so you have to take the baby to hospital yourself," he said.

"It was quite distressing for us.

"Added to that, there were roadworks going on on the way to Albury which added more time."

Mr Williams said the delays meant Autumn didn't receive medical attention until arriving at hospital, while paramedics would have been able to provide care during the drive.

"The hospital staff at Albury Base were absolutely disgusted," he said.

"They said it was something that shouldn't have happened, it could have been a head, neck or spinal injury.

"That should have been the first concern for a baby.

"The potential ramifications of us having to drive her instead ... we can only imagine what would have happened if she had a spinal injury and we had to try to get her into a car seat and drive her ourselves."

Autumn was thankfully found to be OK and her parents were told she would take about four hours to recover.

A bruise is still visible.

Mr Williams, who works in the office of member for Farrer Sussan Ley, said he had concerns for other parents needing ambulance assistance.

"We've lost a lot of trust in the health system in Victoria," he said.

"I can only imagine how many people may pass away or be majorly affected because paramedics can't get there."

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The issue was raised with member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, who said Wodonga's paramedics were committed but let down by bureaucracy and management.

"They're the people in the rear with the gear and nothing should be at the expense of the front line," he said.

"We have this top heavy executive management level at Ambulance Victoria and you've got managers managing the managers of managers.

"It's our paramedics who deliver the service but AV is so top heavy."

Ambulance Victoria and Minister for Ambulance Services Mary-Anne Thomas were contacted.

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