A Consultation with Flinder’s Paramedic Students

A Consultation with Flinders’ Paramedics

Prior to the Marshall Government’s abandonment of Covid-zero, and subsequent re-opening of state borders late last year, the SA Ambulance Service (SAAS) announced their new COVID-19 Resilience Plan. The plan aimed to soften the blow caused by the government’s decision and introduced a range of measures intended to provide life-support to SA’s crumbling healthcare system.

A key component of this plan was the fast-tracked recruitment of qualified paramedics and the retraining of final year paramedic students to allow for a standby workforce of ambulance drivers.

As Flinders is the only university in South Australia that offers a Bachelor of Paramedic Science, this standby workforce was pulled entirely from our own community. The treatment of healthcare and frontlines workers has been an ongoing conversation since the beginning of the pandemic. However, their own voices are often missing from the conservation - whether it be due to the inherent selflessness of their work, or outright censorship (see: the Marshall government banning the chalking of ambulances in the lead-up to the state election). So, Empire Times sat down with a few paramedic science students/alumni to ask – What do you think of the plan?

Florence (name changed), a recent Paramedic Science graduate, thinks it is ‘a complete waste of time and effort’. Florence argues that these recruits are all ‘qualified paramedics, with bachelor’s degrees, registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’. What South Australia needs, Florence says, is ‘more paramedics, not drivers’.

Florence is pointing out what everyone, except the government, seems to know – that this plan does not address the underlying issues with the South Australian healthcare system. In fact, the SA Ambulance Employee Association’s Industrial Officer, Josh Kasprowicz, has

gone as far as describing this approach as a ‘disaster plan’ which would increase the risk to both patients and paramedics, while failing to create additional capacity or reduce ambulance ramping. Florence elaborated on one aspect of this risk for us, stating ‘our scope of practice won’t allow us to help and attend patients. Yet, we will probably be asked to […] to take the load off the paramedics with us’.

Despite this response, SAAS has stood firm in the benefits this plan will potentially bring, stating that ‘working with University students will be really positive for SAAS – we hope it will give them a bit more of a lead into their paramedicine career’.

Joel, a third-year paramedic student and a Covid Ambulance Driver with SAAS, agrees. Unlike Florence, Joel believes that the decision ‘makes a lot of sense’. He expresses gratitude for being able to assist ‘our community in a job we love’. Like SAAS, Joel acknowledges the benefit in working ‘alongside our state’s incredible paramedics and [learning] valuable skills’ for his future career.

But how certain are these future careers? Florence points out that many SA graduates have been unable to serve as paramedics in their home state, due to insufficient internship opportunities. Florence states that she knew of 25 students personally that had not received an internship in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. In fact, prior to the COVID-19 Resilience Plan, only 48 internships were planned to be offered in 2022. This was planned in spite of an underfunded, understaffed and overworked paramedic workforce, even without the added stress of COVID-19.

Florence’s solution? ‘Give us an internship. Let us take the load off the already exhausted paramedics – before we move to another state who wants us’. Words by Tahlia Dilberovic