‘Ramping’ leads to waste of paramedics’ time
Having recently attended a large public hospital with my husband, an elderly man who had fallen at home, I observed the practice of [ambulance] “ramping” firsthand.
On arrival, he had to wait three to four hours in a corridor of the emergency department. While he did, our two very nice and caring paramedics looked after him (and me), but there were 20 to 30 paramedics crowded in the corridor for hours doing the same for their patients. We were waiting for triage or something.
None of the patients seemed to require close attention, hence the ambulance workers were often chatting to one another, understandably.
It just seemed like a terrible waste of their precious time as they could have been attending other people in need who were not at the hospital.
All we needed were two to four nurses to walk up and down the long line, checking anybody in need of care – approximately 10 to 15 people. Instead, there were 20 to 30 paramedics standing around most of the time.
Talking to them they spoke of 14-15 hour shifts they frequently worked. This seemed annoying for them and unproductive when considering what I had observed for several hours and, after APOT (Ambulance Patient Offload Time), a program introduced to improve patient transfer times has already been established, the funding for this program has just been officially axed.
What is going on? It is all beyond my understanding.
Mary Lane, Mornington
‘Prodding’ council
Rocked by findings of community dissatisfaction in government surveys, our Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is changing the way the annual survey is conducted (“Shire hires ‘satisfaction’ survey team” The News 4/7/23).
It is well known that politicians never hold an inquiry unless the results are already established. It is also known that it is pointless putting lipstick on a pig.
They should know what we need but it seems they have to be constantly prodded in the right direction and have a light shone upon them, Councils sometimes get out of control and have to be dismissed and a state government administrator appointed.
We don’t need the world’s best, most highly paid executives to run the show, just common competent ones will do nicely.
We are not high density, high rise, enclosed suburbia, we are the Mornington Peninsula.
We don’t need aspiring politicians, people on an ego trip, or single agenda agents elected as councillors. All they need is a bit of down to earth common sense and ethics to fill this very well remunerated part time job which should be undertaken as community service.
Brian A Mitchelson, Mornington
Survey wasteful
What a waste of our money with a survey to find out what ratepayers think of their representatives (“Shire hires ‘satisfaction’ survey team” The News 4/7/23).
It is a clear indication [that Mornington Peninsula Shire] councillors are there for “the ride”. When will it stop?
John Hodgson, Balnarring
High rise needed
With the shortage of housing crisis, we have the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny limiting height to three storeys after the Frankston Council approved a development in Nepean Highway and after an appeal at VCAT had commenced by residents.
The Andrews government will introduce new planning laws so that high-rise developments will only occur in the inner and middle suburbs and not in outer suburbs such as Frankston, which will mean more traffic congestion in these suburbs and pollution.
Frankston needs a larger population to create more business and local employment and investment.
The 500 space car park at Frankston station has now commenced, which can cater for the bigger population.
The rail line will connect to the Metro loop and airport rail when completed, which will mean that tourists will visit Frankston.
The minister has made her decision based on the self-interest of residents near Frankston beach and not what is the best interest of the broader Frankston revitalisation plans.
A planning minister should not have the power to make an application to VCAT (Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal) after an appeal has commenced.
Russell Morse, Karingal
Yes, nothing to fear
If the Voice becomes a reality, we as a nation lose nothing. We took First Nations peoples land and poisoned their lives with alcohol. They die years before us; their children die before they are five. Just ask yourselves: what do we have to lose if we listen and do things better the way they know will help their people thrive and, more importantly, survive?
We must admit what happened in the past, that we invaded and destroyed them, then tried – with the stolen generations – to breed them out.
There is nothing to be confused about. We have not admitted to the wrongs. But we continue to deny them. It’s just advice they want to give the government, not an insurrection.
Reparations to descendants of the stolen generations has begun in most states.
It is the beginning of a settlement from an era of race-based policies. What do we have to lose? Let’s give it a go. At least try to right that wrong.
Anne Kruger, Rye
A fair Australia
So we’re having another referendum
And they’re giving us the choice
Do we really want a fair Australia?
They’re calling it The Voice.
It’s just like in 1999
We all know what we oughta
But there’s heaps of misinformation
So they’re muddying the water.
So if you’re in a quandry
But you wish to take your part
See to your own education
And read The Statement from the Heart
James Carr, McCrae
No achieves nothing
If, after the Voice referendum has been run, and if the vote is No, what will [Liberal leader] Peter Dutton do the next morning? Will he look into the mirror with a self-satisfied expression and ask himself: “what have I achieved?” The deafening silence from the mirror will more than accurately match the scale of achievement.
Ross Hudson, Mount Martha
MP declines
People who live on the Mornington Peninsula deserve to be informed about both sides of the debate about an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This will ensure we make an informed decision before we vote in the referendum.
According to [former senator and High Commissioner to the UK] George Brandis: “If this is to be an authentic national debate, both sides must be heard.” I agree. So, I invited Flinders MP Zoe McKenzie to a respectful public discussion about the forthcoming referendum.
Unfortunately, Ms McKenzie declined my invitation.
Sarah Russell, Mount Martha
‘Understanding’ needed
I invite [Flinders MP] Zoe McKenzie to refute the following statements about the need for the First Australians to have a voice to the executive arm of government enshrined in the Constitution (“A risk to executive government” The News 30/5/23).
The Rev John Green showed at Coranderrk in 1866 that the gap that desperately needs to be closed could have been prevented by understanding, rather than dictating.
Extracts from The Australian News 23/6/1866:
“My visit … convinced me of the utter absurdity of the prevailing notion that the aborigines are incapable of being taught how to work. If active employment from ‘early morn to dewy eve’ is not work … and if fencing, grubbing, splitting, clearing, ploughing, and the general duties of farm life on the part of the males; and household and dairy work, on the part of the females is work, then the sable residents of Coranderrk have worked and do work, and that right nobly.
“Although all are under the occasional personal supervision of Mr Green, yet no overseer is required, they have the sagacity to pursue their daily avocations in the spirit of harmony and devotedness.
“Vices which mar the peace and happiness of our communities are little known among them. Drinking, lying, swearing and other degrading evils are not only prohibited, but scarcely ever heard of. Any isolated cases of such offences are punished by a fine of their own imposition … Their laws were at first suggested by Mr Green, and then approved and confirmed themselves.
“Friday and Saturday [are for] fishing and hunting.”
Executive decisions without a voice: First Tasmanians exiled to Flinders Island to die broken-hearted; own language banned; Mordialloc mission closed; full-blooded ancestors removed to Lake Tyers; culture (and behavioural discipline) destroyed.
Ray Gibb, Rosebud
Time to catch up
The incessant scare mongering in matters of constitutional change is getting a bit tiresome. It feels like Alabama in the 1960s when American Blacks asked for equality.
It’s not the 60s and high time for Australia to catch up with so many other nations that have made treaties with their First Nations people.
Are the conservatives here on the Mornington Peninsula so misguided by their masters in the federal sphere, that they just follow them blindly? Or are they really as heartless as they come across in their rants?
I will vote Yes in the upcoming referendum and hope a majority of peninsula residents will also do so, because that’s the least we can do for our First Nations brothers and sisters.
Rupert Steiner. Balnarring Beach
Questions on notice
Keeping in mind that doubt is the great divider: does not have to be true or accurate just outrageous questions to sow the seeds of doubt is enough to counteract the truth and doubt – or its energised cousin, fear – always has a head start, I feel empathy for [Flinders MP] Zoe McKenzie having to continue to ask the tired old Qanon-inspired questions during Question Time relative to the Voice, so I thought I might help her out with some original questions to ask.
How much will it cost to build the facility on the grounds previously allocated to the Russian embassy to house the third level of government?
Will the Voice be able to regulate the amount of toe jam that whitefellas can have?
Will the voice force whitefellas to move to failed communities with poor social networks and housing?
Will the voice force the war memorial to close because it honors white war criminals?
Why do we need a voice when we can just listen like we have in the past?
Will the prime minister allow [Liberal leader] Peter “Doctor No” Dutton and “anti-white racism” proponent Senator Pauline Hanson to write the Yes and No campaign information to be put out by the government?
Will the voice facilitate easing restrictions on How cocaine gets into Australia from Colombia?
How many number two lead pencils will the voice use in the first year?
There’s nothing surprising about the No campaign’s success. The Albanese government has underestimated the force of a long lineage of racist and divisive politics.
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
No’ to cows’ milk
Crossbench MP Sophie Scamps is hoping to introduce a Healthy Kids Advertising Bill into federal parliament aimed at combating childhood obesity by banning advertising to kids of “unhealthy foods”. Dr Scamps, a former GP and emergency room doctor, says childhood obesity costs the healthcare system around $11.8 billion a year.
The AMA has identified obesity as “the biggest public health challenge facing Australia”. According to the latest figures from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, a quarter of Australian children and almost two-thirds of Australian adults are obese or overweight.
This is an important initiative and needs to be extended to one of the most dangerous foods given to kids – milk from cows.
Internationally recognised teacher and speaker on diet and health Dr Michael Klaper warns that the purpose of cow’s milk is to turn a 30kg calf into a 300kg cow as rapidly as possible. “Cow’s milk is baby calf growth fluid.”
Feeding dairy to our kids is like putting rocket fuel in your car – it cannot end well. And to get that milk, cows suffer a wretched life of continual artificial insemination, followed by the agony of seeing their baby torn away every year of their short lives, until they are so worn out that they are slaughtered and turned into dog food. Just so dairy companies can sell the milk she made for her calf.
Desmond Bellamy, PETA Australia
