In the 2020 EA the AEAV fought for and won a commitment by Ambulance Victoria to conduct a Spares Trial. This was a significant win on an issue that has caused much angst and frustration. We know that the current approach to Spares leads to people travelling a long way from their homes and paramedics working single officer in locations that they do not know and where there is no readily available back-up by VicPol or AV. This causes increased fatigue, stress and anxiety.
The AEAV has made it clear, since our new leadership stepped up, that a key focus would be to fix the Spares issue that has gone unresolved in rural Victorian ambulance since 2011. This issue was ignored for many years despite requests from rural staff. The result being an ad hoc system where controls do not exist and response performance is regularly prioritised over welfare.
The Spares Working Group will commence in the first year of the EA. AEAV will have at least one representative on the working group with the exact numbers yet to be confirmed. As AEAV will be taking the lead on this trial we are establishing a Spares Reference Group to support our representative(s).
Brett Adie talks about the Spares Working group – Watch now!
AEAV Secretary Brett Adie has extensive knowledge and experience in relation to Spares and the issues resulting from a lack of controls to manage how Spares are used. In 2012 Brett established a working group with AV management to develop controls that would provide protections for on road staff. Unfortunately the negotiated outcome was not supported by the Executive and the inconsistent approach persisted. In addition to his many months working as spare Brett has been responsible for rostering spares as an STM and coordination of spares as an infield manager. So he understands the issues for on road staff and AV.
The development of the working group presents a unique opportunity to implement long overdue controls to protect the health, safety and work-life balance of rural paramedics. We want to hear your concerns regarding the current process and your ideas to fix the system. To be a part of the Spares Reference Group please contact us at [email protected] or call us on 9287 1713.
It’s time that those of us that understand the issues tell those that don’t what needs to be done to fix it.
