Friday, August 7, 2009
**Victoria’s advanced medics resign en masse in Australia
** Toronto councillors move to make EMS an essential service
AUSTRALIA NEWS
** Three hundred Victoria Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedics resigned yesterday morning in front of the premier`s office. That is the word from the Herald Sun (Stephen McMahon/August 6) which said practitioners left their quitting slips as well as their epaulets on the steps of the office of John Brumby. According to the newspaper, medics are protesting both poor pay and what they are terming unfair bargaining on the part of the government since 2006. Currently, MICA practitioners earn just $5,000 more annually than regular paramedics. The resignations take effect in early September at which time MICAs will forfeit advanced duties for lower level ambulance tasks.
CANADA NEWS
** City councillors in Toronto are jumping on the recent prehospital bandwagon to make EMS an essential service. The Toronto Star (Emily Mathieu/August 6) said both Michael Walker and Michael Thompson say residents are far too dependent on ambulance care to have to deal with interruptions. The men’s proposal comes as the city is beginning to return to normal following the recent municipal strike. Along with EMS medics, garbage workers also hit the picket lines. Walker and Thompson’s proposal follows on the heels of a similar call made in July by the Ontario and Toronto paramedics’ associations.
