Ferno 50e Stretchers

Many of you will have noticed that several Ferno 50e stretchers are still in use. Predominantly, these are within the LAR, Medic and PTO fleet. On September 10, the AEAWA wrote to Group CEO Kevin Brown requesting an urgent audit of LAR/Medic/PTO vehicles to expedite the rollout of Stryker units to these areas of the business.

The CEO chose not to reply, but the General Manager – State Control and Logistics did.

Our view is that Stryker stretchers should be considered safety equipment, as they offer significant protection against musculoskeletal injuries. The stretchers undoubtedly reduce injuries in the short term and prolong the careers of frontline staff in the long term by minimising the development of chronic injuries. The expedited rollout promised by our CEO has ignored our LAR, Medic and PTO colleagues.

The stalled rollout for these workers, who perform the same biomechanical functions as the paramedic workforce, exposes them to a higher risk of injury. It also sends a message to LAR/Medic and PTO staff that they are expendable.

St John agrees with our arguments and confirms they do ‘understand the critical role that LAR and Medic colleagues play’ and that it is their ‘commitment to ensure that they receive the same level of protection and support as all other teams.’ They assure us ‘that the Stryker rollout is a priority’, and they claim to be ‘just one month away from completing this initiative across the LAR and Medic fleet’. While this is encouraging, the news regarding our PTV colleagues is not. St John states that ‘PTVs have not been built in a way that allows us to retrofit their vehicles with Strykers (Similar to Mark VI).’

They go on to state that they ‘are expediting the PTV replacement program’ but then state the expedited program ‘will mean they envisage transitioning their fleet by February 2026.’ The AEAWA believes that 2026 is totally unacceptable, and we plan to use every lever at our disposal to ensure Strykers are rolled out during 2025. We will also continue to work closely with our safety reps on this matter.

In the interim, we encourage all members who are still using Ferno 50e stretchers to fill out an incident report, including any near miss, for any injury resulting from their use. Please also let us know via email. We also encourage all affected members to request Stryker backup wherever necessary and appropriate.