Seriously injured patients were left waiting more than 10 hours for paramedics on the Gold Coast last year, according to a report obtained via Right to Information.
The document includes shift reports from Brisbane, Maroochydore and Southport, the three areas of the state with the highest demand for ambulance services, and contains 200 pages dedicated to incidents and cases on the Gold Coast.
It details instances of paramedics being overworked, dangerously fatigued and unable to attend serious jobs within appropriate times due to the enormous demand for their help.
A handover from October last year showed 63 people were waiting for ambulance assistance at one point during the shift.
On another day that month, an urgent code-one job was pending while 30 code two patients were left waiting because all Gold Coast paramedics on duty were busy with other jobs.
One of the code two patients waited more than 10 hours for help.
A call is classified as code one if it is deemed a life-threatening emergency where lights and sirens are required.
A code-two job is the next most urgent incident and requires an immediate response.
Extreme fatigue
Paramedics from various Gold Coast stations told the ABC such delays were standard, particularly during the pandemic.
They said waiting hours for an ambulance was the norm because of a lack of staff and resources.
According to the document, ambulance officers at Southport reported feeling extremely fatigued on numerous occasions.
On one night a paramedic was unable to finish a code-one job.
The same staff reported having to use their own personal cars to travel between stations to assist because all official vehicles were busy.
The document also details paramedics being so fatigued after their shifts that they had to sleep several hours at the station because they were too tired to safely drive home.
On another date the station's tier one supervisors had to assist with workloads on the road.
Similar issues are occurring in Brisbane and on the Sunshine Coast, including delays at hospitals due to ramping issues and the unavailability of beds as well as long waits for help, including for seriously injured patients.
