'Too busy to switch off': Paramedics don't have time for meal breaks

Brendan McIlveen, of Hamilton Ambulance Station, says paramedics don't have time for meal breaks. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

Most Hunter paramedics aren't getting proper meal breaks on a standard 12-hour shift, underlining the urgent need for more staff, the Australian Paramedics Association says.

Brendan McIlveen, the association's NSW assistant secretary, said "we're entitled to two half-hour breaks in our standard 12-hour shifts and we don't get them".