The paramedics' union has accused NSW Ambulance of "chasing their tails" in ensuring staff have appropriately fitted face masks.
The Australian Paramedics Association (NSW) says less than 20 per cent of paramedics outside Sydney, including the Hunter, have been "fit tested" to ensure their masks form an effective facial seal.
It claims the personal protective equipment testing has stalled, or at least slowed, because Sydney consultants were carrying out the tests.
APA (NSW) President Chris Kastelan said majority of Hunter staff were currently responding to jobs without knowing if their PPE would protect them or their patient.
"The lack of preparedness on basic issues like personal protective equipment is alarming, to say the least," he said. "The Clinical Excellence Commission has recommended fit testing of all staff since August 2020, so NSW Ambulance have had twelve months to prepare but they're still chasing their tails and leaving frontline workers in the lurch.
"The majority of paramedics across Hunter New England are not currently protected to the standard recommended by the CEC."
In addition to the PPE issue, the union has also raised concerns that NSW Health is yet to introduce dedicated teams to clean ambulance vehicles at Hunter hospitals.
The process was "successfully trialed" in the region last year, Mr Kastelan said, and the cleaners are in place at some Sydney hospitals.
"If paramedics aren't protected, it puts the whole community at risk. We travel far and fast, visiting multiple homes and hospitals within a single shift," he said.
In response, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said the state government had invested "$340 million to secure and stockpile PPE" and had "some of the strongest guidance on its use in the world".
However NSW Ambulance would not reveal how many paramedics in the Hunter had undertaken the mask-fitting assessment.
In relation to ambulance cleaning, the spokesman said paramedics were "required to decontaminate ambulances following treating each patient" and "to date, no person has contracted COVID from transport within a NSW Ambulance".
He said NSW Health would soon commence Rapid Antigen Testing "in certain workplace and education settings" which NSW Ambulance would benefit from.
Addressing concerns about regional staff having to travel to Sydney for training, the spokesman said the NSW Ambulance Education Centre in Rozelle had "strict COVID-19 safety measures in place and to date, there has been no case of COVID-19 transmission" at the site.
"The majority of NSW Ambulance paramedics have had their second COVID-19 vaccine dose," he said.
"Any regional paramedic who undertakes training at Rozelle is provided with onsite accommodation for the duration of their training."
