{"id":67876,"date":"2025-08-29T20:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/?p=67876"},"modified":"2025-08-29T15:34:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T05:34:22","slug":"exhausted-overworked-ambulance-officers-demand-an-end-to-21-hour-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/media-release\/exhausted-overworked-ambulance-officers-demand-an-end-to-21-hour-shifts\/","title":{"rendered":"EXHAUSTED, OVERWORKED: AMBULANCE OFFICERS DEMAND AN END TO 21-HOUR SHIFTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Paramedics may take protected industrial action after the Queensland Ambulance Service failed to address one of their central concerns: workers regularly having shifts extended, leaving them burnt-out and fatigued.\u00a0<\/p>

QAS\u2019s own data shows the top five stations in Queensland have 80% of their 10- or 12-hour shifts extended to ensure QAS can keep up with demand in the community, at all hours of the day and night.\u00a0<\/p>

The Union is regularly advised of lengthy shift extensions in rural areas, with paramedics working 20-plus hours, and metro officers regularly working 14 and 15 hour shifts.\u00a0<\/p>

Union members have been bargaining with QAS for the past three months to improve pay and conditions, with a key goal of ensuring workers get to finish their work on time and aren\u2019t responding to emergencies when they\u2019re already exhausted.\u00a0<\/p>

Despite offering several solutions, including a need for more paramedics to fill shifts, members are no closer to an agreement. The current agreement expires Sunday 31 August.\u00a0<\/p>

Delegates are now planning a state-wide meeting to discuss the steps towards embarking on protected industrial action.\u00a0<\/p>

Quotes attributable to Fiona Scalon, Ambulance Coordinator, United Workers Union:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cQAS says it\u2019s reasonable for Paramedics, Patient Transport Officers and Emergency Medical Dispatchers to have one-third of shifts worked extended by over an hour.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe reality is, this means paramedics are on shift and attending to emergencies when they\u2019re carrying an impossible workload that compromises patient care.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cEvery shift, these dedicated professionals are working beyond their limits. They’re missing their own children’s bedtimes because they’re saving someone else’s child. They’re choosing between their own health and their calling to help others.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cJust in the past 48 hours there has been an 8 hour shift extension reported in the Wide Bay area where an officer has worked 21 hours without a stand down.\u202f The union is advised of these kinds of examples most days of the week.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWe need adequate staffing and sustainable working hours that allow ambulance officers and paramedics to maintain their health, spend time with their families, and stay sharp for emergencies.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a big ask \u2013 it\u2019s the bare minimum our ambulance workers and Queensland community deserve.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Quote from Queensland Ambulance worker:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cParamedics are being pushed beyond breaking point. We\u2019re regularly working beyond our rostered hours, staying on shift to help Queenslanders when we\u2019ve already worked 10-12 hours.\u00a0<\/p>

\u2018It\u2019s time that adds up. We\u2019re missing out on much-needed rest, time with our own families, and time to look after our own health.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s affecting patients too \u2013 when you call Triple Zero, do you want the paramedic looking after you to be on their 13th<\/sup> hour of work?\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThe fix is simple \u2014 more staff, safer hours, better support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Media Contact:\u00a0<\/strong>1300 898 633,\u00a0media@unitedworkers.org.au<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paramedics may take protected industrial action after the Queensland Ambulance Service failed to address one of their central concerns: workers regularly having shifts extended, leaving them burnt-out and fatigued. QAS\u2019s own data shows…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":66754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[110,193],"class_list":["post-67876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-release","tag-ambulance-paramedics","tag-enterprise-bargaining"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67876"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67881,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67876\/revisions\/67881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/development.uwu.org.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}