Ambos stay station-ary

By Melissa Meehan
PAKENHAM and Berwick ambulance stations had no nightshift staff on 2 January.
Freedom of Information (FOI) documents have revealed the Casey- Cardinia growth corridor was left wide open in the busy holiday period, relying on ambulances from stations many kilometres away.
Dandenong and Emerald were forced to pick up the slack as the corridor struggled to find staff to fill the shift.
But Ambulance Victoria metropolitan regional manager Simon Thomson has hit out at claims by the Opposition that ambulance stations in the area are not adequately staffed.
“What this data shows is that three out of 124 shifts were not covered in January for Pakenham and Berwick branches,” Mr Thomson said. “In February this was only one out of 112 shifts not filled. In these three cases the vacancies were caused by short notice sick leave by paramedics.”
He said when an illness was called in at short notice Ambulance Victoria did all they could to fill the vacancy, but said the reality was that “paramedics are human and they get sick like everyone else”.
Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie said it was unacceptable to leave an ambulance branch unoccupied for any period of time.
“These are full shifts, in holiday periods, in busy areas,” he said.
“The paramedics who respond from areas as far away as Dandenong or Emerald then have to suffer the brunt of abuse and concern from bystanders and family members who have had to wait.”
He said despite Ambulance Victoria’s statement that only four shifts were not covered in January and February, lack of staff was becoming a regular problem throughout the state.
“It is so difficult to get them to come in on their rostered day off,” he said.
“They already work long hours and have a heavy workload – their problem is that there are not enough people rostered on.”
Gembrook Liberal Candidate Brad Battin and Member for Eastern Victoria Edward O’Donohue said it was concerning that both stations were unmanned on 2 January.
“Its very concerning,” Mr O’Donohue said. “Our dedicated ambulance and MICA paramedics are under enormous pressure but these officers and the community deserve a properly funded system with enough trained professionals to respond emergencies.”
But Mr Thomson said Ambulance Victoria had recruited almost 250 new graduate paramedics in 2010 and had already made an impact.
“We are continually reviewing resources in the area and have introduced a number of new services in recent years to reflect the growing demand,” Mr Thomson said.