SA Firefighter

Yeah I know, but they should also be encouraging other professions and not making nurses look like they are the most important profession and that Doctors, Paramedics and allied health are inferior.

Are those pay rates for all classes of Paramedic? Surely an ICP makes more than a P? Or a sottie makes more than an ICP?

Do you get much say in your shifts? I thought everyone did 2 days/2nights/4off?

Oh lordy. This scheiße just got real. 

Can you imagine a community nursing department attempting to take the calls, co-ordinate and dispatch everything?   

The cynic in me thinks that half the time they'd just end up calling an ambulance anyway - but only because they didn't have a doctor there to double check their diagnosis and prescribe a treatment!!   

Now, I am studying nursing and even I think this is true!

That is another point I had, but I didn't want to say it because I was not sure if this was the case with NPs or not, but Paramedics across all levels can use (certain) drugs without Dr authority, and ECP is an extension on that. Paramedics are used to using drugs as they see fit, while nurses are used giving drugs that a delta romeo has put in the order. As far as I am aware, RNs can't even give paracetamol unless a doc has written it up.

Caddy, I have a feeling that is the goal. I have seen ECP's used as first responders to MVAs and Cat As.

The only issue with a holding area is the fact that the patient needs to be watched. Then we have jurisdiction issues, which nursing staff are the most appropriate to supervise patients? The ward nurse who knows the patient is most appropriate, but then you are keeping a ward nurse off the ward and you will also have a nurse standing around for every single patient. Then who is appropriate? And when are you meant to get a hand over and from whom?

We have had issues like this, for example a patient was brought to us on the wrong day for an appointment. The SAAS crew had already left and the particular OPD refused to observe the pt until another crew arrived to pick the pt up. ED refused to look after a patient that wasn't theirs, and rightly so.

I still think that orderlies escorting ambulance personnel is the best option. That way the attending ambo can get a handover from the nurse while the orderly and the other ambo get the pt ready with the nursing staff.

I know that this is the way interhospital transfers work - even amongst the private hospitals, but what about those hundreds who get a SAAS ambulance INTO hospital, how do they get home? - in a private?, and if so - who pays?  You also forget that SAAS personnel cannot go past the reception area of a public hospital without causing a demarkation dispute with the orderlies (see todays medical directive that spells out the few times when we can take a patient to/from a public ward).  Many PTS crews would rather go up to the ward, meet the patient and get a proper handover

With regards to this, I believe this issue arose when the government Orderlies were around. They were concerned about losing their jobs (which they did due to their own fault) and decided that ambos couldn't pick up pt's from the ward. However, times have changed and we are now contracted. There were over 100 government Orderlies on staff, there are now approximately 70 and the workload is astronomically bigger than the government days. I believe most of our staff (and I speak for myself and not the company) would prefer it to escort ambos to the wards rather than picking the patient up ourselves for a number of reasons:

-It is quicker for SAAS/companies
-It reduces our workload
-Does not remove nursing staff from ward
-Orderlies are not trained to use the Ferno and are not allowed to lower the stretcher. Most times the patient will be out of bed and as a result, they must be put back into bed, raised and slid or wiggled across which takes more time than lowering the stretcher.

Having said that, I quite enjoy doing these tasks, but on the whole I can see its inefficiencies.

Had an IMS crew come in the other day. They had a patient who was from a nursing home and had a fall. Would this be a transfer or emergency?

Also, their stretcher was really nifty, but they don't use sheets so we had to slide the patient using their clothes which was weird. The crew almost left without handing over to the appropriate nurses aside from the triage nurse too!

Does anyone have any pictures of this van?

It is important to remember that some of these people have studied for 3 years at university and had many, many years behind them as on-road Paramedics as a full time job, not as a volunteer role where there is not always a high-level of work. Yes, I know some country stations will be as busy as metro ones, but lets face it, City or Ashford or Prospect would see way more jobs in a day than say Mt Pleasant.

Therefore it makes sense to maintain training in a volunteer position where the people in the role have other commitments or fulltime work.

It's like me at the hospital. I am casual and only come in a few times a week. Therefore any new rules or practices I don't know about straight away because I am not there full-time.

As much as some people would like to, being a Volly AO is not like other volunteering jobs. You are actually potentially saving lives (perhaps more so than other emergency services), therefore practice and training need to be maintained in order to maintain a level of safe and best practice.

The only way it will be 'harder' to get into is by preventing the people that can or want to only do a shift or two a month, which really isn't suitable for a job such as this.

Haha, I reckon I saw that unit driving towards the FPH on Main South Rd as I was driving back to Flinders Sturt Campus uni from the Maccas just past FMC.

I saw one at work today and noticed it had amber lights where there would be red and blues (I can't see when they would need to use those lights anyway) and it has NON-EMERGENCY AMBULANCE written in big white writing on the back window.

At least they aren't posing.

The story doesn't make sense, First it says a Trauma Specialist and an RN, but then it says GP's later on.

I find it hard to believe a Trauma Specialist would be riding around in the back of an ambulance around a horse race course.

But they do make a point about having AV Paramedics being called regardless of the other medical service attending.

Spoke to my PSM the other night.

They said that a big player in PTS in Victoria has made an application with SA health to run a PTS company in SA. Medical Transport Services http://www.medicaltransport.com.au/  they are owned by GS4 (previously known as GSL/Group 4 a international company) http://www.au.g4s.com/

My manager says they are waiting for the final health nod to start running. They have vehicles and premises already in Adelaide somewhere ready to go.

I had a look at their website and the G4S website and they appear to do PTS across the UK in addition to little old Victoria. They have taken PTS off many UK ambulance services, that should keep our CEO happy! .

It appears they use new vehicles and employ staff with appropriate qualifications (in fact some higher levels than SAAS PTS/ATS staff ).

It appears they do event standby work also.

Remains to be seen if they can run a ethical business and provide quality care, I guess time will tell.

If I was a SAAS PTS officer I would be just a little worried about my future.

Also, G4S is the company that provides the guards for Mt Gambier Prison and handle the prisoner movement and in court management. They are the guards you see sitting out the front of prisoner's rooms at the RAH (unless they are High 1 level prisoners).