Extra staff, a move to cancel internal training and support from the private sector will help South Australia's ambulance service cope with the ongoing high demand, the state government says.
After a weekend when some ambulance shifts were left unstaffed, Health Minister Chris Picton said 32 new crew members started with the service on Monday.
He said internal training had also been cancelled for the next few weeks and the private sector was being used to cover less serious patient transfers.
The weekend issues were the result of about 80 ambulance staff being on leave after contracting COVID-19, the minister said.
"The advice I've had from SA Ambulance is that those extra elements of capacity are helping to make sure that we are covering the shifts," he said.
"We are not going to see the situation we had on the weekend when so many crews were down."
But the minister rejected a push from the state opposition for other emergency services and the military to provide support.
The opposition suggested a pool of first aid-trained emergency and defence personnel should be activated to keep ambulances on the roads.
"Labor's sole priority must be taking every immediate action, no matter how big or small, that will alleviate pressure on our health system," opposition health spokeswoman Ashton Hurn said.
"With surging (COVID-19) cases and a serious staff challenge, it's clear that we need all hands on deck at the moment and our defence and emergency personnel could be part of the solution."
The Ambulance Employees Association said 18 ambulances were left uncrewed on Saturday night because of staff shortages.
It said that resulted in "severely reduced community coverage".
