Missing ambulance forces police to take man to hospital POLICE had to take a brawl victim to hospital in the back of their car after an ambulance failed to turn up. Police tried up to four times to get an ambulance to attend. The man had lost consciousness, and they wanted him checked for underlying injuries. Senior Sergeant Mark Fabris said police attended an incident in Mansfield at 1.30am on Saturday, March 2. An ambulance had not been dispatched 30 minutes after the initial call. "We made three further requests . . . and that's when Ambulance Victoria said they had no resources," Sen-Sgt Fabris said. Police then took the man to hospital in the back of their police car - a distance, it is understood, of less than 300m. "We are not in a position to transport injured persons," Sen-Sgt Fabris said. Ambulance Employees Australia Victorian secretary Steve McGhie said expecting police to transport patients to hospital was unacceptable. "This man, who was unconscious for a period of time, could have suffered a head or spinal injury and probably should have been immobilised by paramedics," he said. Mr McGhie said the code two response time for such as incident was 25 minutes. The State Opposition is asking Health Minister David Davis to investigate. Labor's parliamentary secretary for Health, Wade Noonan, said he felt sorry for the police "because they've had to take an unnecessary risk in order to cover for an ambulance service in crisis." Ambulance Victoria Central Hume group manager Ian Hunt said the delay was disappointing, but it was not always possible to send an ambulance immediately. The local paramedics had been attending to another patient at the time, he said. Mr Hunt said the service had liaised with police to ensure that the patient was in a stable condition. He said Mansfield was well-staffed. Sen-Sgt Fabris said the police had to make "judgment call." If we can't get an ambulance, we make the best assessment that we can as to his current situation and should there be the need to transport him, should there be a need to get a doctor, we'll do that. He said the incident was unusual, but such delays could be part of living in country Victoria.