Following a seminar I presented for the Australasian College of Paramedicine I received these follow up questions:
Scenario #1: Commercial flight
If I were on a commercial flight and a passenger went into anaphylactic shock, but there was no EpiPen
Latest from Michael Eburn, PhD - Page 7
‘Landholder legal responsibility for bushfire mitigation in Queensland’
This is the title of a report published by Natural Hazards Research Australia. It is available to download here – https://www.naturalhazards.com.au/resources/publications/report/landholder-legal-responsibility-bushfire-mitigation-queensland
The report is written by Fia Hamid-Walker, a PhD student at Melbourne University. The abstract says:
This report examines
Undertakings under the OHS Act (Vic)
Today’s question is about how long undertakings, given to resolve a matter under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) (‘OHS Act’) apply. The context relates to the prosecution of Victoria SES following the death of a volunteer in 2007 and
Non-Emergency Patient Transport and special offences against health and emergency workers
Today’s correspondent asks ‘are NEPT [Non-Emergency Patient Transport] workers included in emergency service personnel protection laws?’
I assume, by ‘emergency service personnel protection laws’ my correspondent means various provisions that create a unique or aggravated offence when it comes to
Condolences to Marine Rescue NSW
Another Queensland paramedic cautioned for delay
In Health Ombudsman v Hastings [2026] QCAT 139 (16 April 2026) the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal cautioned a paramedic over his delayed responses to several code 1 calls in 2023. The facts are set out in [4]-[7]:
In relation to
Treatment for choking or CPR – a question from a UK coroner
A correspondent has drawn my attention to a ‘Report to Prevent Future Deaths’ issued by a coroner in the United Kingdom. This report is made ‘under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and regulations 28 and
NPWS and the Rural Fires Act 1997 (NSW) s 128
Today’s correspondent says:
I’m not looking for advice [which is good, as I cannot give legal advice]. It’s more that I find the situation I’ll describe below somewhat surprising and not conducive to cross-tenure risk management and good NPWS-neighbour relations.
Redacting information from a GIPA request – NSW Ambulance
On 9 July 2022, the applicant in HHR v NSW Ambulance [2026] NSWCATAD 107 was detained by police and NSW ambulance paramedics relying on the provisions of the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW). In particular a medical practitioner had issued
Failure to rescue and manslaughter in the Northern Territory
A correspondent has written and drawn my attention to:
Two NT cases are not directly related to emergency workers, but do remind readers of the unique duty to rescue imposed by Northern Territory legislation. In both cases, the defendant was accused of