It was with a mannequin on a stretcher that the Friborg ambulance crews came to submit their petition this Monday morning at the State Chancellery in Fribourg. For almost 10 years, the date of their last revaluation, Friborg ambulance drivers have felt poorly paid in relation to the work asked of them.
A job that is evolving more and more, in particular because of the lack of family doctors in the canton. “People no longer know where to turn and call 144 which sends an ambulance. We do more than 80% of non-urgent interventions and we try to direct them out of the Emergency Department which is already overloaded,” explains Jonas Arnould, ambulance driver at South Friborg rescue.
Ambulance work is likely to evolve even further in the coming years with the acceptance of the counter-proposal against the H24 initiative which promises the establishment of “rapid responders”. These are paramedics who travel with light vehicles, but unlike today where there are two paramedics on each intervention, the “rapid responders” will be alone.
The Council of State has no deadline to respond to this petition from the Friborg ambulance crews, but it should do so within the coming weeks.
#Swiss
