WEDNESDAY October 5, 2016
THE NEWSPAPER OF THE SNOWY MONARO REGION
Ambos - unprotected!
Cooma paramedics Mick Couvee, Gary McKeahnie, Kim Tonkin and Phil Brown, in front of the ambulances with slogans protesting recent government changes to paramedics’ death and disability insurance. Cooma paramedics have joined their state counterparts in protesting recent NSW Government changes, that they say have left the profession feeling like ‘second class’ emergency service personnel. Slogans have been written on local ambulances in a stand against Baird government changes, brought into effect on August 30, to paramedics’ death and
disability insurance. Under these changes, paramedics will now receive only two years income protection in the event of injury or death, and will not have access to re-training payments. Their angst is further heightened with NSW police officers receiving seven years income cover and retraining payments. Paramedics across the state have taken
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up the liquid chalk protest with the Cooma branch writing on ambulances to bring public awareness to their plight. ‘Premier Baird and John Barilaro MP, you’ve left Monaro paramedics unprotected, shame’, is splashed across the ambulances with local Health Services Union spokesman, Phil Brown, saying paramedics are being treated as inferior emergency service workers.
ISSN 1834-0318
“We don’t understand why these changes have been made. We’ve been made to feel like second class emergency services,” Mr Brown said. “One in five paramedics are injured each year, that means there’s about 800 injuries for the year. NSW paramedics have the highest injury rate in Australia.” Continued on page 10
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