Page 240 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 1991
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Let me now turn to the ambulance fleet of 11 vehicles, which has been depleted as a result of three major accidents over the later months of 1990. Two replacement ambulances have been funded and will be available for operations within the next three weeks. The third will not be available until June due to funding and manufacturing schedules. Of course, these ambulance vehicles are very specialised items of equipment and they are not able to be provided off the shelf. You cannot slip down to the local car yard, as it were, and buy an ambulance of this type off the shelf. They are expensive vehicles and they are required to be properly, effectively and efficiently fitted out.
Therefore, the Government has honoured, I would suggest, its commitment to the service by maintaining the ambulance fleet to the best of its ability and the ability of the vehicle industry to provide equipment for that service. The service currently enjoys a modern and young fleet which is the envy of many other ambulance services throughout the country. From what I have seen in travelling around Australia over the years, the ambulance vehicles that I have seen on the road in Canberra certainly bear that out. It is a professional service, supported by modern, very excellent equipment.
Staff morale is a very important aspect of any service, particularly an emergency service. It is a very stressful occupation. I would suggest that the sight of the damaged bodies, particularly those of young people, that these ambulance officers are required to take care of at various stages of their careers must be quite horrendous and quite horrific. Mr Berry knows that from his activities as a member of the fire service in the ACT back in the dim past. It is a very stressful service. The provision of any emergency service is stressful, and I think it is important that a number of activities and actions have been taken by management to assist in the improvement and development of staff morale in this area.
There has been a move to transform the service from its previous transport orientation to that of a modern emergency ambulance service. This is being achieved and the service now conducts its affairs in a thoroughly professional and accountable manner. We in this place must all support that activity - a view which my colleague Dr Kinloch has attested to from a first hand point of view.
The components of this strategic plan in relation to the improvement of staff morale include the appointment of a professional director and the establishment of this position at an appropriate level; the updating of the methods of operating the service; the upgrading of officers' training and qualifications; and the provision of adequate and appropriate human resources to ambulance education centres. All these things have been achieved.
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