St John territory manager for the mid-North Leigh Knightbridge says people can be assured the service has adequate cover for the area. Photo / John Stone
St John territory manager for the mid-North Leigh Knightbridge says people can be assured the service has adequate cover for the area. Photo / John Stone
Dargaville and surrounding areas were short of paramedic cover on Friday because St John Ambulance hired out a staffer in a commercial capacity.
But Leigh Knightbridge, St John Territory Manager Mid-North, said the Dargaville and Mid-North communities can have confidence that St John is providing appropriate emergency care to the people of the region.
After Dargaville was left without full frontline cover, a senior paramedic working elsewhere in Northland told the Northern Advocate concerns that such a situation would arise are behind nationwide union-member staff refusing to be hired hands at events.
First Union, representing 90 per cent of St John Northland staff, said using less qualified staff on the front line so that highly trained paramedics can cover private sporting and commercial events is one aspect behind union action over parity demands.
The union's Northland organiser, Jared Abbott, said St John usually covered event work by recalling staff on rostered days off, but had recently started transferring crews off frontline duties.
First Union said 1000 union members have refused to work at functions since last Wednesday and St John was risking community cover to pursue an income stream. Within three days of the action starting, the Dargaville situation became a case in point, the union said.
''On Friday, they [St John] took the only paramedic on duty off the job, leaving the emergency medical technician on his own. It's not ideal to put someone in that position, it puts pressure on him and puts the community at risk as well,'' the paramedic said. The Advocate has agreed not to name him.
Leigh Knightbridge. Photo / Peter Jackson
''Don't get me wrong, they [EMTs] do an amazing job and have our respect, but they are restricted in what they can do. You need the higher level paramedic training to deal with critical and emergency cases. Our employers are risking lives, all for revenue gaining.''
He said a St John presence had been traditional at community and commercial functions but the role had changed with full time, station-based professionals.
''It changes the threshold, to use our services as a commercial enterprise.''
If an emergency arose at an event, it could be called in the same as any other incident, he said.
Knightbridge said Dargaville Station is operated by four permanent ambulance officers (three paramedics and an EMT) on a shared roster, so one ambulance officer is always on duty. They are backed by five relief ambulance officers who are EMTs and volunteers.
''As part of St John's commercial work, our ambulance officers and volunteers also provide emergency care and first aid at events. Any income contributes to the running of frontline ambulance operations,'' she said.
''This was the case with the Ruakākā horse racing event last Friday for which an ambulance officer (paramedic, in this instance) was booked some months ago, with another ambulance officer rostered to work at the Dargaville Station. This EMT ambulance officer called in sick so another EMT relief ambulance officer was rostered on.
''This is normal practice and the local community can be assured that all emergency incidents continued to be managed appropriately.''
She said like other parts of the health service, St John operates a skill mix and it is common for ambulances across New Zealand to be crewed by clinicians with different practice levels – including EMTs.
The issue of parity with other medical and emergency services is the main reason behind the union-organised withdrawal from the lucrative non-emergency private event work.
First Union said that although events were getting preferential treatment over the public service the government paid for, the strike was about wanting shift allowances that reflected the unsociable nature of the job.
