United Voice News
LHMU Queensland has welcomed the announcement that paramedics have again taken out top spot as Australia's most trusted profession in an annual poll commissioned by Reader's Digest.
"This is the sixth year paramedics have claimed the spot, which is really testament to the hard work and compassion of all in the industry," Branch Secretary Gary Bullock said.
"Sadly though, still not enough is being done by the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) to back up paramedics and make sure that they have the resources they need to continue to earn the public's trust."
Gary said ramping and fatigue were still two of the biggest issues affecting paramedics' ability to do their jobs effectively, despite years of lobbying from the union.
"Frankly, paramedics work very, very hard to earn and keep the public's trust, but LHMU hears day-in-dayo-out that very few of them feel the QAS has their best interests at heart," he said.
"In a media release issued today, QAS Commissioner David Melville is quoted as saying 'paramedics are the people by your side as you are cut from a car wreck and they are the ones delivering babies on the sides of roads or resuscitating you after a near drowning.'
"Unfortunately, if ambulance ramping times continue to escalate, we'll see more incidents where no paramedic is by the side of car crash victims - because they're still waiting to admit their previous patient into overcrowded emergency rooms."
Gary said the allocation of resources across QAS was another issue paramedics think needs urgent attention from the service.
"For example, we still see stations such as Gracemere having no rostered paramedics at all, despite being built several years ago," he said.
"We challenge the service to staff this station, because currently it falls on paramedics rostered to other areas to fill the gaps, which adds to response times - and that threatens patient safety.
"While paramedics deserve the title of most-trusted profession for their hard-work in the community, they also deserve to feel the QAS is taking their concerns about resourcing seriously."
