EMS Around the World: COVID Variant Punishes Australian EMS

The pressure of the pandemic on Australia’s healthcare and EMS sector grew in September with a rising number of COVID cases in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW)—two of Australia’s most populous states.

On September 29 Victoria recorded its highest daily rate of new COVID cases, 950 people, with a similar figure, 863, observed in NSW.

The rising number of cases was a result of the delta variant wave, which began in the country in June. That wave also helped speed the rate of vaccination in Australia, which now has 77% of its population vaccinated.

Despite deterioration of the epidemiological situation, quarantine restrictions in Victoria were eased. Now residents of the capital of the state of Melbourne can travel up to 15 km out of the city for personal purposes.

Currently the Australian government and state authorities are not ready to reimplement the strict lockdowns that, in the early days of the pandemic, had the country considered one of the world’s strictest but helped it restrict spread of the disease. The reluctance for new lockdowns may, however, put an additional pressure on the Australian healthcare sector.

To be better prepared for a COVID resurgence, authorities in New South Wales began laying off healthcare workers, including paramedics and emergency doctors, who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 by their September deadline.

This policy was recently confirmed by the NSW Minister of Health and Medical Research, Brad Hazzard. Hazzard noted employees of both state institutions would lose their jobs. “For the very small number of people who have contraindications,” he added, “we will try to find other jobs.”

Growing Pressure

In the meantime, the growing pressure on paramedics is confirmed by representatives of their leading local associations.

Chris Kastelan, president of the Australian Paramedics Association of NSW, said in an interview, “Paramedics around the country are certainly feeling an increased level of pressure to do their job at this critical point in time, with the delta strain of COVID-19. The pressure is not only being put on paramedics and their responses to the community by the virus itself—but also by community expectations, political strategies, and health district capacity… Any jurisdiction is going to have similar issues with resourcing, pandemic response strategies, and emergency crisis escalation strategies as cases ebb and flow.”

Kastelan said the pandemic has put enormous pressure on paramedic numbers, particularly when confirmed cases impact close contacts at stations. “There is also significant fatigue involved,” he added, “and we’re seeing significant levels of short-term absenteeism due to paramedics being stood down as close contacts.”

PPE has also been a significant issue, he noted—not only an initial shortage but also through a lag in a national face mask testing, where some jurisdictions have been slower than others.

“There is significant external pressure from hospitals on offload times,” Kastelan said, “as there is limited capacity to accept the volume of suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases… [This has meant] extensive delays on responses,” even as normal medical and trauma cases continue.

Other industry representatives confirm the titanic efforts being required of Australian EMS during this new COVID wave. Victorian Ambulance Union spokesperson Danny Hill, in an interview with ABC News, said paramedics were burned out and constantly working overtime.

“The whole health and emergency system relies on members working enormous amounts of overtime,” he said. “People are completely burned out, and we can’t expect them to keep working the way they have been. We need more staff.”

What’s Next

It is predicted the demand on the health and EMS system will increase in coming weeks and months, with a peak of hospitalizations forecast in late October and then again in December.

By this time the authorities plan to allow paramedic students to drive ambulances and help take care of patients waiting to be admitted to hospitals. As well, the government has also invested $759 million so far to recruit more than 300 paramedics and registered nurses to implement a new transport service for patients who do not require urgent care and to boost triage and telehealth. About 350 medical staff have also been recruited from overseas and will be deployed across 30 health services starting in October.

The Australian national government says it’s ready to provide additional support and funding to EMS along with the overall healthcare sector of the country. As part of this about $1.2 billion will be spent upgrading and building new hospitals in Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Phillip Island, Mernda, Eltham, Point Cook, Torquay, and Sunbury, as well as one in Melbourne’s inner south.

According to recent statements made by Health Minister Martin Foley, “enormous amounts” will be invested in the health system. “I acknowledge the system is under huge stress after 20 months of continuously ramped up efforts,” he said.

Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, Victoria’s emergency phone service is being inundated with calls, while Western Australia, which has been COVID-free for months, announced in September it would postpone about half of elective surgeries amid fears the state would be overwhelmed in the event of a fresh outbreak.

Some analysts also believe that healthcare systems of many of Australian states were in dire straits long before the pandemic hit, as hospitals have been underfunded for years, leading to bed and staffing shortages.

Still, despite this, the Australian healthcare system has shown generally good efficiency; official statistics show that over 1.5 years since SARS-CoV-2 was detected, only 105,000 Australians have contracted it, with only 1,290 dying.

Eugene Gerden is an international freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the global firefighting, EMS, and rescue industries. He has worked for several industry titles and can be reached at gerden.eug@gmail.com.