The number of transports Ulladulla paramedics complete has skyrocketed and it's increasing fatigue and leaving the local area uncovered except for on-call units, according to the Australian Paramedics Association NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Australian Paramedics Association NSW vice-president Glenn Congram said the union's biggest concern was the amount of time which the Milton-Ulladulla area was left uncovered for emergency work.
"When we're talking life threatening conditions, we're talking critical time response, to be able to save a person's life. It's really putting the people of the Milton-Ulladulla area at risk," Mr Congram said.
"The workload and transports out of there have become phenomenal."
The next 24-hour crewed station south of Ulladulla is Merimbula. Because of increased workloads in the Eurobodalla region, Ulladulla is having to do to transfers from Batemans Bay or Moruya to Canberra.
"In mornings Ulladulla is being stripped out because the Batemans Bay and Moruya and Narooma crews are actually fatigued because they've been on call all night. Sooner or later they need to sleep. This is not a slight on those crews, they need to sleep, they've been working for their 24-hour period."
A change in policy has also tasked Ulladulla crews with transports for patients needing CT scans to Shoalhaven Hospital in Nowra.
Elderly patients on blood thinning medication or palliative care patients, who fall and hit their head, must be transferred regardless of the time of day.
It's improved patient care, which is great to see, Mr Congram said. But, the installation of a CT scanner at Milton-Ulladulla Hospital would alleviate the pressure on patients, who need to find a way home, and ambulance crews, he said.
By decreasing the transports for CT scans, Ulladulla paramedics will have a better response and treatment time and be freed up for true emergency transports out Milton-Ulladulla Hospital which need to go urgently.
"It frees us up for a lot more work within local community at a better response time," he said.
"It's almost like putting a new crew here."
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District Executive Director Clinical Operations Margaret Martin said it continues to work with consumer groups on the issue of a CT scanner.
"There are clinically appropriate arrangements in place to care for patients presenting to Milton Ulladulla Hospital who may require a CT scan which ensures the safest and most efficient use of this service," Ms Martin said.
ISLHD had considered proposals to introduce a CT scanner at the hospital, however, the number of patients presenting to the hospital who require a CT scan does not meet the minimum amount of presentations needed to make this a viable service.
"On average, only about five patients a week require CT scans, well below the minimum 25 CT scans per week required to cover basic running costs of this service for taxpayers."
iframe src="https://form.jotform.co/81267504917865?masthead=Milton%20Ulladulla%20Times" height="840px" /iframe
