‘I am concerned of a serious incident involving a patient or colleague’: Katherine paramedics trying to change roster

KATHERINE paramedics have been fighting to remove a roster they describe as “fatiguing” and “extremely lonely”, with concerns it could lead to a “serious incident involving a patient or colleague”

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KATHERINE paramedics have been fighting for 15 months to remove a roster they describe as “fatiguing” and “extremely lonely”, with concerns it could lead to a “serious incident involving a patient or colleague”.

There are currently two roster systems in Katherine. Paramedics on the second system work four days on, four days off from midday to midnight, and are on call until 8am during which they are based at home.

The paramedics are then given a four hour “passive” period before returning to work.

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However, several paramedics told the NT News they often worked beyond their initial 12-hour shift, were rarely at home for the entire eight-hour on-call period and barely slept due to being on edge waiting for a call.

One paramedic, who did not want to be named, wanted the roster removed entirely but said it could be improved if there was an adequate fatigue management plan or if they were entitled to fatigue stand-down breaks.

It’s understood Katherine paramedics are not entitled to the stand down in the current enterprise agreement. “I feel that the organisation … does not understand our concerns for the Katherine community and ourselves,” they said.

“I am concerned of a serious incident involving a patient or colleague if the on-call remains and they will not implement a workable fatigue management policy.

“I feel that we are ‘past the Berrimah Line’ and out of sight, out of mind. This roster would never have been implemented in Darwin.”

Another paramedic, who also did not want to be named, said the roster was taxing on their mental health.

“There’s no possibility for any sort of social interactions, or any events, whilst working those hours,” they said. “It’s a very lonely and isolating shift to work … unless you’re getting up at 8am in the morning to go and do stuff, chances are at most you’re just getting sleeping that’s uninterrupted.”

Both paramedics said the number of times they were called during the on-call period did not justify the roster and that alternatives had been proposed.

St John NT ambulance service director Andrew Thomas said in the past year the on-call crew had been called on 65 times to respond when the active night shift had been unavailable to attend to critical cases.

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“St John NT has been working with staff to develop new roster models and measures to address risks associated with fatigue across all of its operations in the Northern Territory,” he said.

“Consideration is given to the optimum way to provide a service to the community, current call out rates, staffing and resources.

“It is important to note that there have been no risk related incidents recorded in Katherine over the last 15 months.”