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Speaker 1: Heading across right now to catch up with Saint John

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Speaker 1: Ambulance Director of Ambulance Services Andrew Thomas.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Andrew.

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Speaker 3: And very good morning to you Katie.

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Speaker 2: Now I know by the.

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Speaker 1: Look of it not I mean, obviously always a busy

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Speaker 1: weekend for you guys, but no significant responses to report

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Speaker 1: on for the weekend. However, much like the police, over

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Speaker 1: the course of the weekend, you guys have again your

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Speaker 1: cruise been attacked while trying to do your jobs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, unfortunately, Look, Caddie, it's really disappointing at times to

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Speaker 3: have to report on this, but we're continuing to see

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Speaker 3: there's piece sort of aggressive behavior and unacceptable of behavior

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Speaker 3: being demonstrated towards our paramedics and clinicians out on the road.

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Speaker 3: And you know, over the weekend, our crews are extremely

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Speaker 3: busy going to lots of lots of cases in terms

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Speaker 3: of medical cases and traumas across the whole of the territory.

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Speaker 3: And we've ended up now with you know, as it

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Speaker 3: turned at the moment, I've got three staff that they

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Speaker 3: are going to be off work for at least two

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Speaker 3: to three days following some of these events. And you know,

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Speaker 3: one one was a paramedic in Nolan Boy who was

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Speaker 3: punched in the face and knocked out and they know

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Speaker 3: while treating a patient. The paramedics now you know, it

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Speaker 3: was taken to hospital and and you know it's basically

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Speaker 3: going to be off for four days. And I've got

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Speaker 3: a crew in Darlin that you know, it was on

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Speaker 3: the end of some fairly vicious sort of verbal threats

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Speaker 3: and a lot of sort of aggression towards the ambulance itself,

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Speaker 3: not towards maybe the cruise, but you know they're now

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Speaker 3: feeling quite unsafe and so that crew has now come

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Speaker 3: off the road for two nights. So you know, these

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Speaker 3: these type of incidents have a massive impact on our paramedics,

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Speaker 3: you know, both their their their their physical well being,

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Speaker 3: but also their emotional well being. You know, they're out

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Speaker 3: there trying to do the right thing and liver of

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Speaker 3: the care that that that that you people need, and

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Speaker 3: then when they sort of the incident happened, it just

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Speaker 3: really plays plays on them. And then we've also seen

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Speaker 3: in our springs over the weekend as well. You know,

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Speaker 3: we've had a two crews at different circumstances. I've had

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Speaker 3: you know, people lash out of them. One of them,

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Speaker 3: you know, fortunately that the crews weren't injured, but they

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Speaker 3: needed to withdraw and withhold treatment. The other one had

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Speaker 3: had their their their mobile phone broken and whatever else

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Speaker 3: is part of that sort of assault of this. There's

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Speaker 3: a number of occasions and we're continuing to keep springing

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Speaker 3: this cading. It's really disappointing that, you know, the cruis

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Speaker 3: are feeling it out there when they're trying to do

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Speaker 3: their job.

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Speaker 2: It's appalling.

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Speaker 1: It's absolutely appalling, like that paramedic being punched in the

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Speaker 1: face and knocked out in Nolan Boy, that's terrible.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, as I said, and you know, we've we're railing

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Speaker 3: around with you know that the the the paramedic was

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Speaker 3: has been well looked after, and we've been calling up

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Speaker 3: with them and you know, they were taking the hospital

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Speaker 3: and assessed. Unfortunately, they're making a good physical recovery and

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Speaker 3: you know, we'll work with them. But as I said,

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Speaker 3: you know, it's also the psychological impact that it has

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Speaker 3: on our crews. You know, they they're out there trying

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Speaker 3: to do the right thing and sometimes, you know, we

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Speaker 3: understand that sometimes you know, in high emotional states that

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Speaker 3: patients and relatives get can be quite distressed in that

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Speaker 3: part of the way of showing care and wanting to

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Speaker 3: wanting things happen. But you know, any level of sort

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Speaker 3: of threat or violence towards paramedics or you knows, as

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Speaker 3: us the police and other healthcare workers, it's just not acceptable.

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Speaker 1: It's really not Now, Look, Andrew, I don't want to

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Speaker 1: put you in a difficult situation, so please back this

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Speaker 1: question away if it's not something that you're in a

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Speaker 1: position to answer. But you know, we've been speaking this

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Speaker 1: morning as well about the sentencing when it comes to

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Speaker 1: assaulting frontline workers.

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Speaker 2: I mean, does like does that need to be increased.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think it's you know, it's a really difficult

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Speaker 3: question to sort of probably put an answer to it.

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Speaker 3: So it's about, I suppose, it's about trying to make

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Speaker 3: sure that when these sort of things happen that the

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Speaker 3: people who have been impacted feel safe. And sometimes that's

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Speaker 3: just about knowing that there is a process been going

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Speaker 3: through and you know, and we as an organization fully

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Speaker 3: support any of our staff taking the appropriate action for

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Speaker 3: any level of occupational violence that they might be exposed to.

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Speaker 3: So we support the process and it obviously it goes

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Speaker 3: into into a system. Once it gets into that system,

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Speaker 3: obviously that then forms part of you know, the judicial system.

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Speaker 3: And you know, I'm probably not going to comment necessarily

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Speaker 3: on those of the things, but you know, you know,

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Speaker 3: we encourage that our staff do report these things and

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Speaker 3: we go through that process and it allows that to occur.

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Speaker 1: Now, look, the thing that's probably more disappointed than anything

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Speaker 1: today is the fact that it's actually International Paramedics Day.

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Speaker 1: So you know, I want to be we want to

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Speaker 1: be celebrating the work that our incredible Saint John's staff do.

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Speaker 1: It's appalling that over the course of the weekend they've

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Speaker 1: then been subjected to people sort of assaulting them, attacking.

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Speaker 2: Them and what they've gone through.

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Speaker 1: But you know, I really do want to highlight the

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Speaker 1: fact that our paramedics, all of those staff at Saint

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Speaker 1: John do an incredible job under what, as we've just

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Speaker 1: heard this morning, can be really difficult circumstances.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, it is International Paramedic Day, and you know,

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Speaker 3: it's an opportunity to acknowledge the sensational work that our

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Speaker 3: paramedics particularly do. But they're not only our paramedics, our

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Speaker 3: patient transport offices, our communication staff and even the sort

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Speaker 3: of the support staff behind that that you know, be

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Speaker 3: able to deliver that care. And you know that our

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Speaker 3: paramedics and while we're talking around these sort of you know,

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Speaker 3: unfortunates and over the weekend, you know, in the last

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Speaker 3: year or so, our paramedics are probably attended over sixty

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Speaker 3: thousand cases and individuals where they're delivered care and that's

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Speaker 3: everything from bringing babies into the world to you know,

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Speaker 3: leieving pain and suffering and dealing with trauma and then

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Speaker 3: you know, unfortunately supporting sometimes people we in their times

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Speaker 3: a Greek so they know parameds do that in all

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Speaker 3: types of weather conditions, environments across the territory and you know,

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Speaker 3: today to be able to sort of really acknowledge the

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Speaker 3: amazing work that the staff do. And as the director,

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Speaker 3: I'm extremely proud on the professionalism and the work and

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Speaker 3: the care that our paramedics provides to the Northern Territory

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Speaker 3: every single day.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely well.

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, if you see paramedic today, if

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Speaker 1: you happen to be at the coffee shop at the

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Speaker 1: same time as them, shout them, maybe shout them a

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Speaker 1: coffee or at the very least thank them for the

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Speaker 1: wonderful work that they do. I know that so many

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Speaker 1: of our listeners are very grateful for what Saint John

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Speaker 1: does and our paramedics, as you've said there you pace

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Speaker 1: and transport officers and all of the staff as well

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Speaker 1: that take the calls. I mean, it takes a lot

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Speaker 1: of work and a lot of dedication and you've really

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Speaker 1: got a care right to be able to look after

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Speaker 1: people when they're in their hour of need.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, And I think that's the thing that really

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Speaker 3: shines through with all of our staff is it is

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Speaker 3: that sort of absolute care and compassion that they bring

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Speaker 3: to work every single day. I think it's one of

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Speaker 3: the things that our paramedics and our staff love is

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Speaker 3: it is that sort of bit of unpredictability in the

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Speaker 3: role that we do. But it's that ability to be

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Speaker 3: able to get out when someone's having a really really

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Speaker 3: bad day and being able to care for them and

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Speaker 3: make an impact on their life. And so I think

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Speaker 3: that's obviously something we want to obviously acknowledge today that

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Speaker 3: that's what they're doing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.

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Speaker 1: Willson John Ambulance Director of Ambulance Services, Andrew Thomas always

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for the work

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Speaker 1: you do and for your time this morning, No problem.

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Speaker 3: Katie, have a great day you too,