QUEENSLAND — A paramedic has asked an Australian premier on Facebook to spend a day doing his job before going through with proposed compensation changes.
On the Queensland Premier Facebook page, a person going by the name “John Bulance” had a lot to say about the proposed pay raise that would replace penalty rates paramedics receive when they miss meals, according to the Herald Sun.
“Please ride with us for a day and see what we really do,” Bulance posted. “Stand behind me when I tell a stranger that her husband of 43 years has died and there is nothing more I can do to change this. Come and support the suicidal patient that has just tried to take their life.”
By late Sunday, the post had 21,000 “likes.”
United Voice Queensland secretary Gary Bullock said he’s never seen paramedics angrier.
Due to chronic understaffing, according to Bullock, first responders often work 10- or 11-hour shifts without a single break. In order to combat this, overtime pay is offered.
“If that financial penalty gets removed, there’ll be a lot more ambulance officers, a lot more of the time, missing out on their meals,” Bullock said. “That’s what paramedics aren’t going to cop. They want to be fed.”