Ambulance crew makes 400km round trip to plug shortage

A shortage of paramedics in Hobart has forced a call for reinforcements — from the other end of the state.

STAFF shortages in the state’s ambulance service meant a crew from Launceston was redeployed to Bridgewater on Sunday night, Ambulance Tasmania has confirmed.

Paramedics assigned to Bridgewater clocked off after a 13-hour shift on Sunday night and were replaced by a crew from 200km away, an Ambulance Tasmania insider told the Mercury.

But the replacement crew were unable to access the station and had to be let in by firefighters. The crew drove back to their base in thick fog before clocking off after 15 hours on the road.

An Ambulance Tasmania spokesman confirmed the redeployment of the Launceston crew.

“Ambulance Tasmania’s state operations centre allocates resources accordingly based on demand and how they can best be used to help Tasmanians in need across the state,” he said in a statement.

“Last night Ambulance Tasmania made a strategic decision to deploy Launceston paramedics to support service provision in Bridgewater following a period of significant demand.

“Ambulance Tasmania is actively recruiting new intensive care paramedics and paramedics around the state to help reduce overtime among staff.”

Requests seen by the Mercury indicate that Ambulance Tasmania is trying to fill 46 vacant shifts in southern Tasmania before Sunday, with 11 of those on Sunday.

And there were just four ambulances on the road in metropolitan Hobart on Monday night.

“At least four crews are on tonight in the Hobart metropolitan area, with the ability to send a single person response if appropriate,” the spokesman said. “Also, on-call provisions are in place.”

The Mercury revealed last week that ambulance officers were becoming fatigued from a constant barrage of requests to work overtime shifts.

The service is creating a “Crisis Response Register” to alert staff to shortages after a critical shortage last week forced a patient’s relative to drive an ambulance to hospital while the lone paramedic provided medical treatment.

A surge in demand late last month left ambulance staff working up to 16-hour shifts including some who were forced to work for 10 hours without a break.