** New South Wales government in Australia risking paramedics’ lives through inadequate resources: union
AUSTRALIA NEWS
** A New South Wales EMS union spokesman says the state government is risking paramedics’ lives by failing to provide them with proper resources. That is the word from Mirage News (June 14) which said an inadequate number of medics is resulting in practitioners coming to a breaking point. Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) secretary Steve Pearce said provision for minor staffing increases in the state’s annual budget is only putting a Band-aid on the problem. Pearce said providers are constantly running during shifts with no meal breaks and are very frequently forced to do overtime. He also said response times are suffering as a result. Promoting paramedic burnout, the situation is also potentially a danger to patients. To top this off, Pearce said technology given to paramedics often fails. Batteries frequently die in computers used for patient information and new portable radios don’t work.
