News

The Victorian Ambulance Union Incorporated (VAU) has approached the Victorian Government and requested that funding committed at the last State Election for increased staffing for Bendigo and Gisborne area be brought forward to this financial year. These locations had been scheduled for the 2022-23 financial year. However, our members working in these areas as well as our members in the communications centre have informed the VAU that these locations are in need of more staff now. These discussions are ongoing.

Recently the VAU was provided with a document titled ACO Dual Officer Crewing at Paramedic Branches. This document has circulated in the Loddon Mallee Region.

This document states:

Where possible, the preferred crewing is to split Paramedic crews to run 2 crews of Paramedic/ACO.

This is not the preferred resourcing model. Paramedic shifts should be filled with paramedics. The VAU has received several examples of Ambulance Community Officers filling paramedic shifts in Bendigo and Gippsland. This should only occur in circumstances where reasonable attempts to fill the paramedic shift have been exhausted. Under the new enterprise agreement this requirement will be better clarified to ensure that ACOs are only utilised to fill paramedic shifts when AV has taken reasonable measures to exhaust paramedic options.

The VAU raised this last week with AV CEO Tony Walker and the Loddon Mallee Regional Office and has sought that this document be retracted and reissued with clarification that rostering ACOs into paramedics shifts should not occur unless proper efforts to cover the shift with a paramedic has taken place.

The VAU has regular discussions with AV Emergency Management Unit and Safer Care Victoria regarding trigger points for altering crewing arrangements due to workplace availability issues that may occur during a serious escalation of the COVID19 pandemic. At this stage there is no requirement to alter crewing arrangements. However, preparing these contingencies early is essential so that we do not have to suddenly organise arrangements amid an increased pandemic workload. These temporary crewing arrangements would be for the duration of the COVID19 pandemic only and may involve AV staff including ACOs, 3^rd year paramedic university students and external agencies such as the Australian Defence Force (ADF). This may occur across both emergency and non-emergency fleet. The VAU has sought that alternative crewing arrangements, such as partnering with ADF personnel be done by members who volunteer to do so in the first instance.

At the beginning of the pandemic the VAU requested and received written confirmation that any changes, including changes to crewing arrangements, that may occur to deal with the pandemic will be immediately reversed after the pandemic.

In solidarity