By Brad Worrall
The Border Mail
MELBOURNE, Australia — One in 10 ambulance shifts in Wodonga were so overworked in 2009 that the fatigue levels were likened to being legally drunk, a confidential report has revealed.
The Border Mail recently acquired a copy of the Ambulance Victoria’s Fatigue Risk Management Plan.
Completed in late 2009, it has been released only recently to the union and ambulance officers.
It shows that almost 11 per cent of shifts at Wodonga station involved officers who were above a critical fatigue threshold - the equivalent of having been awake for 24 hours, the impairment compared to having a blood-alcohol reading that was double the legal limit.
Ambulance Victoria says it has modified rosters as a result of the report but officers and the union say little has changed.
Wodonga ambulance officers told Labor MP Wade Noonan this week that fatigue was “horrendous”.
One paramedic told him of a 19-hour shift when a patient was transferred to Melbourne.
“This report says that across Victoria more than 6 per cent of hours worked were above a fatigue level that was equivalent to working 23 to 24 hours straight, with a performance impairment the equivalent of driving and working with a blood-alcohol level of between 0.05 and 0.1,” Mr Noonan said.
“And it is worse in regional areas, for example in Wodonga one in 10 shifts were not compliant with safe fatigue levels.
“Many paramedics are working extra shifts and that is commonplace; they say there simply aren’t enough staff to meet the demands of this community.”
Ambulance Victoria group manager for Upper Hume Matt Chadban said they recognised the seriousness of the issue of fatigue and as a result of the report Ambulance Victoria started several initiatives.
“In Wodonga specifically, we have added more staff to the area to reduce the need for overtime and have also improved our rostering to minimise the fatigue risk,” he said.
“Two paramedics have started this week to help increase our pool of staff so we can reduce the impact of overtime.
“We have increased the number of ambulance community officers working alongside our single officers and bolstered our volunteer numbers within our ambulance community officers and community emergency response teams with the region.”
But the Victorian state secretary of the Ambulance Employees Australia union, Steve McGhie, says officers worry for their safety and that of their patients.
“Apart from rest breaks becoming mandatory late last year the only change has been that workloads have increased and ambulance officers are working more overtime,” Mr McGhie said.
“What that report says is that one in 10 shifts were impaired and when you talk about high level clinical interventions you want people to be at the top of their game.
“Paramedics have told us of nodding off at traffic lights, there are concerns about administering drugs, others have left equipment behind.
“There is clearly more staff needed in the larger regional centres - they appear to be the most affected, often called to the smaller centres when the ambulance for that town is already on a job.”
The managment plan found it was almost certain that fatigue led to “poor patient outcomes” and that the paramedic who recorded the highest fatigue rating worked 124 hours in an eight-day period, including a 24-hour day.
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