Ambulance Victoria

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Ambulance Victoria
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Who we are

• Ambulance Victoria was formed in 2008, creating a
  single ambulance service for the State of
  Victoria
• Provide the highest level of pre hospital
  emergency care and patient transport across
  Victoria
• We respond and attend medical emergency calls 24
  hours a day, 7 days a week
• We are committed to the continuous improvement of
  patient care.
• We have both emergency and non-emergency
  transport functions, via road and air resources

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Who we are

• We respect the values of all members of the
  community
• We recognise and value staff and their
  contributions
• We work closely with other members of the health
  industry, emergency services, State and local
  governments, businesses and schools to increase
  the communitys capacity to deal with medical
  emergencies.
• For a person who does not speak English, the
  Ambulance service offers assistance through the
  interpreter service.

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Who we are
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Rosters

• Shiftwork organisation
• 10/14 roster in most major regional centres and
  across parts of Metro region
• 4 on / 4 off cyclical rotation in some centres
• Peak Period Unit rosters that allow for a mix of
  shift times and start times, usually 10 or 12
  hour days
• Supported call rosters where one crew on night
  shift while the other crew on call
• Single officer call roster, 8 days on / 6 days
  off

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Crews

• In metro region mostly two-officer crewing at
  Ambulance Paramedic level or as a MICA unit
• In regional Victoria major regional centres and
  larger towns will have two- officer crewing which
  may be a mix of staffing levels,
• In smaller provisional centres mostly
  single-officer crewing supported by Ambulance
  Community Volunteers
• Some regional centres or outer lying locations
  are staffed solely by Ambulance Community
  Officers and CERT teams
• A Graduate Ambulance Paramedic will always be
  staffed with a Qualified Ambulance Paramedic or
  MICA Paramedic

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Paramedic Degree

• All recruits require a degree in Paramedicine.
• Currently the universities in Australia providing
  an approved degree are
• Monash University
• Victoria University
• Charles Sturt University
• Australian Catholic University (Ballarat)
• Edith Cowan University
• Flinders University
• University of Ballarat (post graduate course)
• Queensland University of Technology
• University of the Sunshine Coast
• Latrobe University (Bendigo)

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Attributes

• Attributes of a Graduate Ambulance Paramedic
• To be a paramedic ambulance officer you must be
  empathetic, professional, non-judgemental and
  able to offer the same care to everybody. You
  need to be able to work under pressure and not
  faint at the sight of blood (QAP)
• You also need to be an effective and adaptable
  communicator. Patients can be confused, elderly,
  hard of hearing, from a non-English speaking
  background, drunk or psychotic, so working out
  how to approach the situation quickly is crucial
  (QAP)

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Who we look for.

• Graduates
• Dynamic, autonomous, leaders
• Team players
• Problem solvers
• People with great integrity
• Someone with excellent communication skills
• We are looking for people to lead us into the
  future!

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What our Paramedics say

• "You never know what your day will deliver to
  you the excitement, the adrenaline rush, the
  sense of satisfaction and achievement you feel
  when you make a positive impact."
• "There are way more positives to my job than
  negatives, but you can face some pretty hard
  situations and you have to learn to cope and get
  through them. These situations could involve
  someones life.
• It is like no other job in the world. The hours
  are unusual, the work is sometimes demanding both
  mentally and physically, and you often get little
  acknowledgement of your efforts. Yet it is the
  most satisfying job I can imagine.

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Our team

• Graduate Ambulance Paramedics
• Qualified Ambulance Paramedics (Advanced Life
  Support)
• MICA Paramedics
• Air Ambulance Victoria (5 helicopters 4 fixed
  wing planes)
• Paramedic Community Support Coordinators
• Ambulance Community Officers
• Community Emergency First Responders
• Community Education Officers
• Aboriginal Liaison Officer
• Operational and Clinical Managers

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Career Choices

• MICA Paramedic
• Clinical Specialist
• Clinical Instructor
• Clinical Support Officer
• Specialist teams - USAR

• Team Manager
• Flight Paramedic
• Paramedic Practitioner
• Clinical / Operational / Education Managers

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Research Opportunities

• Pre-hospital Thrombolysis
• Intranasal Fentanyl
• Intranasal Naloxone
• Rapid Sequence Intubation

• Zoll Autopulse
• Attitudes to Resuscitation
• Ketamine for Pain
• VACAR
• Valsalva Manoeuvre

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Community Matters

• Community Heroes Awards
• The awards are given to ordinary members of the
  public who do extraordinary things, usually
  selfless acts to others in distress. 125
  Victorians had been honoured since the awards
  started in 2000.
• The 2008 award recipients include
• When an electrician received a shock and went
  into cardiac arrest at Eastland Shopping centre,
  a tradesman working nearby, heard the commotion
  and wasted no time in alerting security, calling
  an ambulance and beginning CPR. The tradesman and
  a security guard at the centre, used semi
  automatic defibrillation and continued CPR until
  paramedics arrived.
• A six-year-old showed maturity beyond her years
  when she was woken by the irregular breathing of
  her grandmother. After trying to wake her without
  success, the child called 000 and when paramedics
  arrived she was able to translate into Russian
  for them as her grandmother did not speak
  English. She directed paramedics to her
  grandmothers medication and was able to contact
  her parents and give paramedics a brief patient
  history
• A male rushed to the aid of a woman after a car
  had struck a pole. He performed life-saving first
  aid on the woman who was unconscious and unable
  to breathe unassisted. On the arrival of
  paramedics, he continued to provide invaluable
  assistance. The patient has recovered well .

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Why Would I Want to be part of AV?

• We value our employees
• We nurture the development of our Graduates
• We have great working conditions
• We are world leaders in pre-hospital practice
• We offer great work / lifestyle balance
• We have a diverse workload
• We provide professional development opportunities
  for our staff
• We have a 1-on-1
• supported Graduate program

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Employment Conditions

• Starting salary from 53,066 plus 9,095 Salary
  Packaging (2009)
• Regular incremental increases
• Defined Benefits Superannuation
• 5 weeks annual leave per year plus
• Accrued Days Off
• Personal Leave Benefits
• Full Uniform Provided (dry-cleaning of part
  uniform included)

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Prerequisites and Recommendations

• Excellent level of physical fitness and
  satisfactory medical history
• Year 12 English, some university courses require
  bioscience subjects
• Safe driving record (and minimum driving period)
• Navigational skills
• Volunteering or casual employment
• Interact with different communities/people
• Be prepared to work anywhere in Victoria

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Further Information

• www.ambulance.vic.gov.au
• human.resources_at_ambulance.vic.gov.au