Queries have been raised on the safety of Tasmania’s ageing fleet of ambulances

Tasmania’s “ambulances are old and failing and our paramedics and communications officers are worked beyond breaking point,” says a paramedic who has taken to social media to air his frustration at a crumbling health system.

ALMOST a quarter of Tasmania’s ageing ambulance fleet have such high mileage they are not meeting the safety standards set by Ambulance Tasmania, the state’s health union says.

The Health and Community Services Union says 20 out of the state’s 90 ambulances have clocked up more than 210,000km on their odometers, which is the safety threshold set by the service.

“It is unsafe to have old vehicles that need to be driven at high speed in emergency situations,” Health and Community Services Union assistant secretary Robbie Moore said.

Ambulance Tasmania denied their vehicles were unsafe, and said the ambulances were serviced frequently and older models were steadily being replaced.

“There is no evidence that any vehicle currently deployed is not fit for service,” Ambulance Tasmania chief executive Neil Kirby said.

But Mr Moore said an incident this year, when an older ambulance’s brakes failed to respond adequately, proved some vehicles were not fit for service.

“The ambulance went through the Hobart Airport roundabout because it couldn’t brake in time … what more evidence do they need, a serious accident?” Mr Moore said.

“The reality is that paramedics are raising this issue with us daily – and I trust the paramedics.”

Mr Moore said half of the state’s ambulance fleet would need to be replaced by June next year, but the Government had budgeted to replace 29 of them.

Mr Kirby said Ambulance Tasmania had already brought new vehicles online last financial year and was bringing even more into the pool this financial year through the service’s normal replacement program.

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“Ambulance Tasmania has an exceptionally maintained vehicle fleet where ambulances are serviced at twice the rate recommended by the manufacturer,” Mr Kirby said.

Concerns about the fleet follow a social media post by a paramedic yesterday, complaining about the state’s “old and failing” ambulances.

The frustrated paramedic revealed on Facebook that the city of Glenorchy, with a population of 50,000, had no ambulance vehicle overnight Friday through to Saturday – one of the busiest nights of the week.

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The paramedic on the nightshift revealed he was not only without a vehicle but also without a work partner – despite the fact paramedics are supposed to respond to emergencies in pairs.

“Nearly a decade of budget savings has pushed us to the point where our ambulances are old and failing and our paramedics and communications officers are worked beyond breaking point,” his post says.

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“As a result I sit here alone, with no partner and no ambulance. In a city of 50,000 people. Just another day here in the Tasmanian #healthcrisis.”

The post attracted more than 1000 likes and was shared widely.

Mr Moore said the union would support the paramedic if he were reprimanded for going public with the untenable situation.

He said many paramedics had taken to Facebook lately because of the lack of action from the Government.

“It shows their desperation,” Mr Moore said.

Mr Kirby said there had been a “higher than usual number of unavailabilities in the Southern Region” this weekend.

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