Following an unsuccessful appeal with the industrial relations commission, union officials are taking a “no risk” approach, saying paramedics can not afford to risk injury on the job with their benefits effectively cut by 75 per cent.

Following on from a “silent protest” against the proposed benefit cuts, paramedics will now send more man power to call outs that involve any lifting, such as a routine response to a person slipping in the bathtub.

“We are always going to do our job for the public, they’re our number one asset,” Health Services Union New England Sub-branch president Dave Lucietto said.

“But due to the lack of the government wanting to look after us, we will have to take things into our own hands and be a bit more cautious and a bit more protective of our own safety.

“To get someone out of a bathtub who has slipped, fallen and hurt themselves is one of the most awkward situations you can get. If there is any kind of lifting we will get four officers to do it.

“We will be getting back up to help us as much as we can, obviously we are always concerned for the patient, but we are now going to have to spend a little bit more time assessing the scene and the scenario.”

Local paramedics are calling for parity with police officers, who receive seven years of compensation under their current death and disability scheme, where as the ambulance officers will receive two.

Mr Lucietto said he was disappointed by the lack of support by the Government and also local member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson, and Barwon MP Kevin Humphries who he believed were supporting the Goverment’s response.

“Basically we’ve been dumped on by the government. If I get injured at work and I can’t be a paramedic anymore, then what do I do?,” he said.

“What they are offering is a two year income protection scheme which will be less than our base rate. What we want is parity with the police. To get a two-year window to get better, rehabilitated, reeducated and retrained is not long.”

In response to union claims, Mr Anderson told The Leader on Tuesday he was meeting with local  paramedics and union members on Friday to discuss their concerns. He said talks were ongoing and he had relayed their issues to NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner since the matter first arose in June.

“I’ve got a lot of friends who are paramedics and I want to make sure we do look after them,” he said.

An Ambulance NSW spokesman said the new death and income protection award was put in place after a previous award from 2008 was deemed financially unsustainable.

“Under the Award, paramedics will no longer have to pay towards the scheme as they were previously required to do and as is the case for other emergency services. The lump sum benefit awarded to the families of paramedics who die on or off duty remains the same as under the former Ambulance Service of NSW Death and Disability State Award,” he said.

The spokesman said additional assistance in lifting patients from areas hard to access, such as a bathtub was already standard practice.

“We continuously work to identify areas of improvement in order to reduce the chance of injury occurring within our workforce. NSW Ambulance is committed to any measure which improves safety for our staff and the community,” he said.

The award began on Saturday and will be in effect for 12 months.