‘Can’t believe it’: Paramedic frustrated by response after ambulance crash in Victoria

A paramedic who crashed an ambulance after working for “more than 18 hours” has hit back with what he claims really happened.

A paramedic who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed an ambulance after working for “18 hours” has hit back at ambulance bosses for “discrediting” his claims about how long he worked.

Experienced Victorian paramedic Jim Avard, 56, started at 7am on Wednesday and was 14 hours into his “shift from hell” when he was sent from Wangaratta Hospital across the border to Corowa, NSW, for a final job.

The following morning he was driving home when his vehicle hit an embankment at 90km/h and rolled onto its side in Victoria’s Hume region at 1.30am.

A patient transport crew managed to free Avard, who was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital.

He has since come out and slammed a “lack of support” from Ambluance Victoria and the statements they made following the incident.

Jim Avard has slammed Ambulance Victoria. Picture: Supplied

“I just couldn’t believe it happened to me,” Avard said, admitting it’s possible he fell asleep.

“I was hanging by the seatbelt, so I couldn’t reach the radio.

“(The statements) appeared to discredit me, and what I’d done and what my partner has done that day and night.”

Secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, Danny Hill, told Melbourne radio station 3AW about the long hours Avard had worked.

“(The paramedic) started at seven in the morning and at 1.30am the following morning – so 18 and a half hours later – they were still going,” Secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, Danny Hill, told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

“They raised concerns about how long they were going for at 9.30pm. But they were then sent to another case across the border at Corowa in New South Wales because there were no other resources available.”

The ambulance hit an embankment at 90km/h and rolled onto its side. Picture: 3AW

Ambulance Victoria later issued a statement, claiming the paramedic was “not working and 18 and a half-hour shift as alleged”.

“AV is reviewing the circumstances, including the movement of the ambulance between arriving back in Myrtleford at 12.39am on Thursday June 27 until the rollover at 1.26am,” an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson told media.

“However, there is no indication the paramedic was dispatched to a case at that time.”

Avard said he later recorded the hours he worked in a health and safety form.

“I can’t believe that they discredited that and what I said and what my movement might be. They’ve got vehicle tracking data... they had all the information,” he said.

“It was approved on my time sheet by their systems for the length of that day. And it just frustrated (and) annoyed me for serving them for that long, and the community for that long.”

Ambulance Victoria said the paramedic was “not working and 18 and a half-hour shift as alleged”. Picture: Supplied

Avard believes he must have dozed off at the wheel when he veered off the road and rolled the ambulance.

“I wasn’t the nodding falling asleep tired but maybe asleep with their eyes open during and I knew I was very close to home,” he explained.

The next thing he knew, he was upside down in the ambulance.

“I couldn’t get out of the ambulance. I couldn’t. I was trapped by the seatbelt and I had my phone in my pocket. I couldn’t get my phone out because of seatbelt was over,” he added.

He ended up pressing a duress alarm on the ambulance before a team he helped earlier in the night arrived at the scene.

Jim, who is lucky to be alive, said he initially couldn’t feel his legs after the crash.

“I think hanging upside down while the seatbelt cut the circulation off on my legs,” he said.

“My left leg stayed weak and numb for probably two days.”

Avard claimed he has reported fatigue and incidents where he has been dispatched to non-urgent cases overnight, but nothing has come out of it.

“I’ve been documenting it through the health and safety claim system for over a year,” he said.

“I have probably at least half a dozen claims in about that I’ve submitted and there’s been no action.”

Jim said he was close to home when the ambulance veered off the road. Picture: Supplied

Executive Director of Regional Operations at Ambulance Victoria, Danielle North, later told 3AW it does not roster paramedics for 18 hour shifts.

“That’s absolutely outside of our process and procedures,” said Ms North, who added “we are still reviewing the circumstances of what occurred”.

When asked if Avard was making up his claims, she confirmed: “Not at all, not at all.”

“We do believe and acknowledge that there was an extended delay at Wangaratta Hospital that evening of some hours,” she added.

“And we do know with the hospital ramping, it’s a system under pressure at the moment and access into hospitals is particularly difficult for our crews at the moment.”

Ms North acknowledged system pressures impacted on Avard’s experiences and there is a demand for Victorian paramedics to respond to incidents in New South Wales.

“We continue to review our resource in your remote and rural areas,” she added.

“We absolutely also have responsibility in relation to fatigue and the safety of our people that is absolutely paramount. And it is a complete and absolute focus for us. It’s very concerning to hear Jim’s experience and we are wanting to understand that further.”

News.com.au has reached out to Ambulance Victoria for comment.