Ambulance services will go to a higher state of readiness in preparation for this weekend’s very hot weather.
Saturday is tipped to reach 35 degrees and Sunday 41, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Ambulance Victoria tweeted on Friday afternoon that it would enter the “orange” response level to deal with the conditions.
Orange is the second-highest level of a four-tier response scale used by Ambulance Victoria. Red is highest, with green third and standard fourth. The scale indicated ambulance availability and readiness, Ambulance Victoria spokesman Rob Clancy said.
Despite recent hot weather there had been no red-level days this summer, Mr Clancy said.
Monday temperatures are tipped to reach 33 degrees, with a late cool change, and Tuesday 25. Wednesday will return to hot weather with 31 while Thursday is predicted to reach 35.
Paramedics reminded parents never to lock their children in cars, following a spate of such incidents in Melbourne’s most recent heatwave. In mid-January, during the city’s hottest week in more than 100 years, more than 50 children were left in cars despite temperatures soaring into the mid-40s.
In one incident a man left his two sons, both aged under five, in a car while he placed a bet at a suburban hotel. Elsewhere a man in Melbourne’s east left four children under the age of 10 unattended while he went into a bottle shop.
Premier Denis Napthine described the prevalence of children being locked in vehicles on hot days as “one of the most dangerous, stupid, irresponsible things that any person could do”.
