The ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) has confirmed it deployed staff from ACT Fire and Rescue to complement its ambulance crew numbers due to a staffing shortage on Saturday night.
ESA Commissioner Georgeina Whelan said firefighters were rostered to respond to ambulance call-outs on Saturday due to staffing shortages brought on by a combination of factors, including illness.
Ms Whelan said the unit did not respond to any emergencies in the most serious category — or priority one emergencies — over the weekend, and only dealt with emergencies in the priority two category, for which they were trained.
But the United Firefighters Union said it was "concerning" that the ACT did not have sufficient staff to meet roster demands.
Firefighters deployed as part of 'business continuity plan'
Ms Whelan said the ESA was following its business continuity plan on Saturday when it became clear there was a shortage of ambulance paramedics.
"I think it's really important to say that from the onset, throughout the entirety of COVID-19, we have put in place a series of business continuity plans to support us if an event such as last Saturday night did eventuate," she said.
"They're not paramedics and they were not put onto the roster with an expectation of performing as paramedics."
She said the ACT had not yet seen the "extreme" circumstances experienced by other jurisdictions where ambulance services were severely short-staffed.
"We have had times where we've had a number of staff out with COVID-19, and we've been able to replace those staff with their colleagues who have been willing and able to do overtime to round out the capacity," she said.
"We have probably the best volunteers in the country who have stepped up and supported the back of house and the enabling function to enable us to put every frontline worker out there in the community when it's been required."
She said the firefighters had not been rostered on with the expectation they would respond to serious emergencies.
"We didn't replace an ambulance crew with a fire crew, we rounded out the capability over the weekend," she said.
Staffing issue 'raises questions' about funding
Greg McConville of the United Firefighters Union said firefighters were trained in some emergency response procedures, including in advanced first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced resuscitation.
He said while their crew was trained and ready to assist, the staffing problem did raise questions about how the agency was managing during what were still unprecedented times due to COVID-19.
He said it was the first time this had happened due to inadequate crew numbers, and that it was a concern.
Over the weekend, a woman died after the car she was driving crashed on Black Mountain Road.
It was the 10th road fatality in the ACT so far this year.
"Firefighters stand ready to help the community and to assist their ACTAS (ACT Ambulance Services) colleagues ... but it is concerning that their crewing levels dropped to below an acceptable minimum such that they needed to be helped by an additional fire truck," he said.
Mr McConville said the firefighting unit had its own staffing issues, which only compounded his concerns about the capacity of the ACT's emergency services as a whole.
"I suspect that questions will be raised by representatives of probably all political parties through the estimates process of the Legislative Assembly."
