The Age newspaper article by Dan Oakes explored the deepening crisis the ambulance service is facing in Victoria. It goes on to explain that paramedics are fed up with overwork and the violence that threatens them on a Friday and Saturday night.

One solution outlined by Ambulance Service Victoria (ASV) management is to abolish the paramedics rolled in rate of pay and then giving back the penalties in the traditional weekend periods. This, according to ASV, would make these more appealing times to work.

This issue has some issues:

• Paramedics, at the moment, don’t get paid professional rates of pay unlike other medical “professionals”. For example a nurse is regarded as “professional” but paramedics are not despite the elevated levels of responsibility (in the field).
• Has reducing a persons wage ever improved morale and their desire to work for an employer?
• Employing 21 year olds just out of university (now the only way to become a paramedic) who have the understandable desire to experience life outside work with friends on a Saturday night. Why would they want to work? The ambulance service intake is now almost devoid of any people with previous careers or people with a family of their own.

Anyway I’m sure you can all discuss this amongst yourselves and let us know what you think. The comments field below should be working and you can send us your thoughts.