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MELBOURNE, AUS. — The Ambulance Union is fighting a move to privatise a new Melbourne service for obese patients.
The union says the Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS) wants to use private contractors on the new ambulances for people weighing more than 200 kilograms.
It says the vehicles should only be staffed by paramedics who know how to handle seriously ill patients and the equipment.
Union spokesman Steve McGhie wants WorkSafe to investigate possible breaches of occupational health and safety laws.
“MAS has not consulted with the ambulance paramedics and they’ve now handed this vehicle over to a private contractor,” he said.
“There’ll be some complications in the working of this vehicle, in the way that ambulance paramedics work around it.”
The union is seeking legal advice on how to stop the privatisation.