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Child safety seats removed from Australian ambulances

Instead of safety seats, medics have been told to strap children to pediatric harnesses; many medics say they are too large for children under four

The Sydney Morning Herald

SYDNEY, Australia — Kate Anderson had been waiting for nearly five hours. Her two-month-old baby, Isabelle, was sick and getting worse.

“For about three days her feeds had been going down,” she said. “She was running a fever”. She arrived at Parkes Hospital with dehydration. Attempts to insert a drip failed, a particularly difficult task on newborns.

The nearest paediatrician was at Orange, an hour away. An ambulance was called. But the paramedics said: “We can’t”. Fairfax Media revealed last week the Ambulance Service ordered paramedics to stop using child-safety restraints despite protests.

Read full story: Baby’s life put at risk by ambulance safety seat debacle