‘Terrified’: Geelong ambos’ call to fix broken system

A “broken” call system has local ambos responding to toothaches while being late to crucial medical emergencies.

Ambulance Union delegates at the emergency bay at Geelong Hospital. Paramedics Debra Baumgartner, Troy Human, Scot Kerr, Sue Gorham, Sam Williams and Ben David. Picture: Brad Fleet

Geelong ambos are calling on their employers to fix what they say is a broken system that is putting locals in danger, amid lengthy EBA negotiations.

Local paramedics say they are having their time wasted at low-priority jobs due to an ineffective call system, causing their hours to balloon and more important jobs to be missed.

According to paramedics, calls under the current system aren’t ranked correctly due to a lack of oversight from medical professionals.

Local paramedics Sam Williams said it meant he often gets sent to jobs where his presence is unnecessary.

Ambulance Union delegates at the emergency bay at Geelong Hospital. Paramedics Debra Baumgartner, Scot Kerr and Sam Williams. Picture: Brad Fleet

“The dispatch grid is causing a problem with up-triaging low-acuity cases,” Mr Williams said.

“Recently I responded to a patient with a toothache.

“The system is designed to have no medical input, and for the call-takers to ask set questions that sort of predicts the worst-case scenario, so arm pain will become chest pain because it can be a symptom of a heart attack.

“We don’t want to be unavailable because we’re tied up with something we aren’t needed at.”

Bellarine based Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic Debra Baumgartner said the system made her “terrified.”

“I’m an older person,” Ms Baum Gartner said.

“I’m scared because, if something happens, you don’t know if there’s going to be anybody to respond.”

She recalled a time where incorrect classification of jobs caused her to be late to the scene of a young boy going into asthmatic arrest.

“I was in Norlane for a mental health situation, police had requested I attend,” Ms Baumgartner said.

“As we get back to the hospital, a lad had asthmatic arrest and there was no unit to send, they were screaming at us to go, but we had someone there on a stretcher, I’d given pain to relief to this patient, what was I supposed to do?

The hold up meant Ms Baumgartner was 20 minutes late to dispatch, with the unit only arriving 40 minutes after the boy had gone into fatal asthmatic arrest.

According to Ms Baumgartner, only 20 per cent of jobs she is sent to are correctly graded under the current system.

Mr Williams said the system could also cause shifts to go well overtime.

“It’s pretty soul destroying,” Mr Davis said.

“When you’ve got plans, or you’re just trying to get home to your family.

“It can pile up.”

Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said paramedics and ambulance workers were “dealing with an unsustainable workload, they rarely get breaks and work massive overtime after their shift.”

“One in five are planning to leave in the next year,” Mr Hill said.

“They have been calling for improvements to their conditions to make the job more survivable but after 104 meetings we are still a long way from an agreement that will improve longevity in the job.”

Originally published as ‘Terrified’: Geelong ambos’ call to fix broken system