QLD:More paramedics needed in Qld: union

AAP General News (Australia)
12-28-2011
QLD:More paramedics needed in Qld: union

By Darren Cartwright

BRISBANE, Dec 28 AAP - Queensland needs to add 250 new ambulance officers every year
to avoid a repeat of the situation that left badly burned celebrity chef Matt Golinski
waiting 30 minutes for treatment, the ambulance union says.

Just one paramedic was available to attend a Sunshine Coast house fire that left Mr
Golinski severely burned, and claimed the lives of his wife and three daughters.

The Ready, Steady Cook star remains in a critical but stable condition in Royal Brisbane
Hospital with burns to more than 40 per cent of his body.

Ambulance officials say they did the best they could for the Golinski family, getting
to the fire within nine minutes of learning there were injuries.

But Jeanette Temperley, spokeswoman for the union United Voice, told AAP the government
could do better, as it was under-delivering by several hundred on its promised staffing
numbers.

"There was a promise made about five years ago for 1000 officers over four years,"

Ms Temperley told AAP.

"We got 625 and then we got another 50 this year.

"We were looking at 250 a year to keep up with population growth and the ageing population
and 50 doesn't cover it.

"I would be wanting the 250 a year."

A police officer had to drive the ambulance to the local hospital while the intensive
care paramedic worked on Mr Golinski, who was later transferred to Brisbane.

Ms Temperley said it was "not ideal" for a police officer to drive an ambulance, but
it was an accepted practice.

"It's fairly common practice in remote areas that emergency services work together," she said.

"We have no problems with that."

Records show Mr Golinski, 39, waited almost 30 minutes before being treated by a paramedic.

It took 27 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from the first call, which was a standard
request to support a fire crew at the blaze.

It was already en route when it got word there was a patient to treat.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts was confident the service had done its best.

Ms Temperley said paramedics were under constant pressure because of a lack of resources
and said the response time was not uncommon.

"We'd be concerned that an ambulance takes that long, but it's not unusual," she said.

"They are stretched (on the Sunshine Coast) as they are everywhere in the state."

Police say there was nothing suspicious about the blaze that claimed the lives of Mr
Golinski's wife Rachel, and their daughters Starlia, 13, and 12-year-old twins Sage and
Willow.

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KEYWORD: FIRE

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