Ambulance Tasmania paramedic Lauren Hepher has clocked off from a 14-hour overnight shift. In eight hours, she will start again. “It’s been pretty busy,” Ms Hepher said. “We are experiencing a really busy period and we haven’t hit the peak of the winter flu season yet so that is quite concerning.” Ms Hepher is also the president of the Ambulance Employees Sub-branch of the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU). She is concerned about the workload for Tasmanian paramedics, which she said was affecting health and morale of staff. HACSU said when the next fortnightly roster for the southern region came out this week, there were 20 vacant paramedic shifts — and that was before anyone called in sick.
