Trent Simpson and Stu Bradshaw at the Harden Ambulance Station in Albury Street on Tuesday.
Those of us who have been attended to by ambulance officers, or who have had relatives so attended to, know full well the value which we place on these men and women. Their jobs require them to deal on a daily basis with injury, illness and death – issues in life which the rest of us would prefer to avoid. It goes without saying that we would all like our ambos to be as comfortable as possible as they carry out the duties of their jobs. But, currently, this is not the case. We are now experiencing temperatures of up to and more than 40 degrees.
Our ambos have been allocated a so-called summer-appropriate shirt as part of their uniform, by NSW Ambulance, which in reality is like wearing a polyester shower curtain. These garments become sweat-soaked from neck to waist and are the basis of an ongoing dispute between this organisation and the Australian Paramedics Association (APA). Officers have made numerous complaints about this so-called summer shirt. The only alternative is a winter shirt, which is of a heavy material and long-sleeved. The APA has advised its members not to wear this summer-inappropriate shirt at this time of the year. Why has this shirt issue suddenly raised its ugly head?
The ambos are, at the very least, seeking relief from being forced to do their jobs in what is obviously inappropriate uniform. What were officers’ shirts made of prior to the introduction of the shower curtain? What officers need to be wearing is an official T-shirt, made of cotton, underneath a high-vis vest. Cotton being a lot cooler and able to ‘breathe’ on the human body. NSW Ambulance is saying that Work Health and Safety considerations need to be adhered to when considering uniforms for their officers. How bureaucratic is that stance? How ironic that our ambos, those obliged to handle some of the most personal human needs of their patients, are themselves subjected to inhumane treatment by their employer? This matter needs to be fixed, now!
