SA ambulance crisis has paramedics searching for ‘exit strategy’

An experienced officer has sounded a new warning over the ambulance crisis, saying it’s going to get worse when exhausted paramedics succeed in finding new jobs.

Stressed paramedics dealing with ongoing ramping and now the Covid outbreak are looking for “exit strategies” says one experienced officer who has gone part time.

Josh Cox, 31, a paramedic for nine years says the job is more stressful than ever, prompting him to shift to a part-time role.

“I’m single without a family so can take the financial hit but others don’t have that choice,” he said.

“It no longer feels like a job that can be done at full-time hours, it is just too much, too fatiguing, so I’ve cut down to half time to recuperate.

Paramedic Josh Cox. Picture: Emma Brasier

“Fatigue is a real issue. Several colleagues also have taken short term contracts to work part time and I would say no-one doing full-time work is OK, everyone is burnt out.”

Mr Cox warned the SA Ambulance Service faces an exodus of experience unless the workload eased.

“The stress is showing in personal and professional lives,” he said. “We look at our older colleagues in their 50s or 60s with a 30-year career, and we know we can’t do it for that long.

“Everyone is looking for an exit strategy.”

The situation has been exacerbated by SAAS officers being infected with Covid or being forced to isolate as close contacts, as well as the additional infection control work now required when transporting Covid-positive patients.

This week at least 41 officers were in isolation after becoming infected and another 53 were isolating as close contacts.

Mr Cox stressed the length of shifts is not the issue but lack of breaks due to constant workload.

“Firefighters work long shifts but is you asked them to put out fires for 14 hours straight without a break they would laugh in your face,” he said

“Responding to emergencies is no different. Being stuck on a ramp when you know people need help or arriving late because you were tied up also takes a mental toll.

“A colleague and I attended an elderly female recently at nearly 12 hours into a shift without a break, it should have been a 16-minute response time but things were so busy it took us half an hour to get there.

“She basically died in front of us, she needed CPR when if we had have been there within 16 minutes it may have been a treat and transport to hospital.

“I was furious, that we are not able to do the job as it should be done, and furious for my own sanity as well.”

Ramping at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in October.

A SAAS spokeswoman said: “SAAS has not experienced an increase in staff resignations — in fact, our dedicated staff are often selecting to work longer, with many stepping into part-time roles to extend their careers.

“As part of our SAAS COVID-Ready Plan we have recruited additional Triple Zero call takers, fast-tracked recruitment of qualified paramedics, and established partnerships with other emergency services to increase rural capacity if required and continue to action our resilience plan to increase staffing capacity.

“We will continue to bolster our staff numbers in 2022 by doubling our intake of paramedic interns and recruiting even more experienced registered paramedics.

“We also continue to implement new approaches that make a real difference to our patients – Priority Care Centres, Mental Health Co-response and other alternative referral pathways, just to name a few.”

The spokeswoman said SAAS fully acknowledges the impact that dealing with the current demand has on the workforce, and is committed to supporting them through this extremely busy and challenging time.