Ambo call for action

By Kath Gannaway
ACTION by Ambulance Employees Australia calling on the government to “fix the ambulance service crisis” has come as the Coroner deliberates on the death of Yarra Glen boy Jake Hindhaugh.
Jake, 11, died of an asthma attack in April last year.
It was a death his parents Peter and Cheryl Hindhaugh said at the time may have been prevented, had there been more emergency ambulance services in the region.
Jake’s father Mr Hindhaug told the Mail following Jake’s death that they waited nearly half an hour for the ambulance which had to come from Diamond Creek.
Healesville and Lilydale ambulances were unavailable, he said.
The Coroner’s inquest into Jake’s death on 7 and 8 November once again brought the limitations of the ambulance service into the spotlight.
The Coroner’s findings will be delivered at a date to be fixed, but in the meantime, the AEA is calling for action, citing the plight of Jake and his family as one example of where improvements need to be made.
“A Melbourne coroner heard last Thursday how a slow response caused by a lack of paramedics and ambulance services may have contributed to the death of an 11-year-old Yarra Glen boy who died of an asthma attack,” AEA State Secretary Steve McGhie said.
“Paramedics have repeatedly voiced concerns about slow response times in the outer suburbs.”
The campaign to address what Mr McGhie says is a chronic shortage of paramedics took on a grim reality last week when more than 100 paramedics delivered a coffin full of 5000 postcards from Victorians to Premier John Brumby demanding the government fix the ambulance service crisis.
“Ambos have been campaigning since March for the government to address the chronic shortage of paramedics by improving wages and conditions,” Mr McGhie said.
He said official reports showed Melbourne response times had increased from five minutes to 16.5 minutes for 90 per cent of ambulances and from 25 to 26 minutes in rural Victoria.
Mr McGhie claimed Ambulance Victoria was struggling to fill the 358 new positions promised statewide because it had failed to address paramedics’ concerns of fair wages and fatigue.
“The service is being propped up by ambos working overtime,” he said. “Ambulance Service statistics showing rural paramedics work 11 weeks a year, more than one day a week, overtime,” he said.
Paramedics are demanding minimum 10-hour rest breaks between shifts, a pay increase and better resources to do the job.
Mr McGhie said paramedics surveyed by the AEA said they had fallen asleep on the job and made mistakes because of the excessive workload.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said the service was unable to comment on the circumstances around Jake Hindhaugh’s death, as the inquest had yet to be handed down.
A comment on the AEA’s action was not available at the time of going to press.