Ms Erin Mengler2, Ms Lisa Hobbs3, A/Prof. Louise Reynolds1, Professor Scott Devenish3
1Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Australia, 2ACT Ambulance Service, Canberra, Australia, 3Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia
Biography:
Person-centred Ambulance Manager with the ACT Ambulance Service, coordinating the Graduate Paramedic Intern Program. Dedicated to fostering professional growth, well-being, and gender equality within the prehospital sector, I deliver supportive education, enhance clinical and team performance, and lead workplace wellbeing initiatives to improve the people experience.
Abstract:
Situation
Since 2019, the Australian paramedic workforce data has shown the increased female representation from 41.2% to today with greater than 50% in some jurisdictions representing an increased feminisation of the industry.
Women* working in the ambulance environment can be negatively impacted by their menstruation causing interruptions or early completion of their shift. Reasons include pain/discomfort, heavy periods, leakage and trouble accessing a bathroom and/or sanitary items and appropriate disposal facilities. To manage menstruation, some women in the ambulance sector use Hormonal Contraception (HC) in order “to make it easier for me to work in the paramedic environment”.
There is very little research regarding the how women* in ambulance settings can be supported to manage their menstruation and operational roles.
Task
To investigate the impact of menstruation for female paramedics in the paramedic/ambulance environment when undertaking workplace duties.
Action
To address this gap, one jurisdictional service is providing menstruation support kits consisting of tampons, sanitary pads and waste disposal bags on every operational ambulance vehicle and ambulance station, communications centre and headquarters. Participants have been invited to complete an anonymous online survey of Likert scale and free text options about their use of menstruation support kits as it relates to their role. Human research ethics have been granted for this project.
Results
This presentation will detail the process undertaken and early results from the initial analysis of the surveys completed to date.
*Note on language: women describes those who were assigned female at birth