Melton paramedics say while the opening of a new ambulance station is welcome, it’s only covering up greater issues.
More than 25 paramedics from Melton and surrounding areas used Friday’s ceremony to protest working conditions.
“The opening of this branch is being ticketed as a big item for the town, but literally it does not represent an increase of services for Melton and the greater Moorabool community,’’ paramedic Aaron Riding said.
‘‘Our workload is increasing at a much faster rate than our resourcing. We are in the middle of our enterprise agreement and the government and our management are not showing support.
‘‘We are here to say it’s a smoke and mirrors campaign to cover up some of the greater issues.”
Mr Riding said local services were not keeping up with demand. “Four-hundred-and-sixty-five new paramedics have been put on [across the state], but 390 have left in the same timeframe.
“At this time there are no more cars in Melton than there were a year ago, and in that time we’ve had multiple cases where they haven’t had ambulances available to them and lost lives as a result.
“[Mr Davis] says he’s putting additional cars on, but they are not being utilised properly and there’s still times in Bacchus and Melton when there is no ambulance service available.
‘‘We are seeking bipartisan support to fix these issues and look after the welfare of paramedics.’’
