Eleven qualified paramedics who have moved to Tasmania from interstate and overseas are being trained to join ambulance crews across the state.
Seven will be based at stations in the south, three in the north-west and one in the north, Ambulance Tasmania said.
Four of the recruits come from the UK and New Zealand. Together, the group brings 51 years of paramedic experience to the service.
The latest intake brings the number of new paramedics to join Ambulance Tasmania this year to 75, made up of 42 graduates and 33 qualified paramedics.
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the recruits would “play an important role in delivering life-saving care to the Tasmanian community”.
“We are delivering on our commitment to recruit more qualified paramedics, who bring significant and diverse experience with them to the job,” she said.
“We are strengthening our ambulance services right across the state by recruiting, retaining and supporting our valued paramedic workforce.”
The new recruits come as ambulance staffing and availability face renewed scrutiny following two recent patient deaths.
A man believed to be in his 60s died at Zeehan on the West Coast on Saturday after waiting 78 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from Burnie, about 140km away.
The Department of Health said the Zeehan Ambulance Station “was not staffed at the time of the incident due to unfilled leave”, while crews in Queenstown and Strahan were attending other cases.
A department spokesperson said there were “ongoing efforts to recruit more paramedics to the region, however the remoteness of the area does provide challenges”.
Earlier this month, a man died after his family drove him to the Royal Hobart Hospital because no ambulance was immediately available. Both deaths are being investigated.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government must be “open and willing” to change.
Labor leader Josh Willie said $700 million in health cuts would not help and the health system was “in crisis”.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff described the two deaths as “horrifying”.
The new paramedics are now completing Ambulance Tasmania’s four-week induction program, which includes hands-on training, before being sent to their stations.
