THE State Government has been urged to give volunteer firefighters easier access to rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Brad Battin said despite volunteers putting themselves in harm’s way to protect local communities, they had been left to source their own RAT kits.
He said a lack of RAT kits had resulted in significant delays for volunteers to return to stations.
Mr Battin called for the State Government to step up and support local CFA teams to stay safe and operational.
“CFA volunteers work tirelessly to protect the community. The last thing they want is to unknowingly pass COVID-19 on to fellow volunteers or the public,” he said.
“This is an easy fix – give CFA volunteers and brigades easy access to RAT kits so they can keep themselves and the Victorian public healthy.”
However, a CFA spokesperson confirmed to The Guardian that it was expecting more than 60,000 rapid antigen tests to be delivered in the coming weeks, following delays in global supply chains.
The spokesperson said the volunteer organisation was following health advice and taking sensible steps to maintain service delivery while keeping members and the broader community safe.
They said CFA members were following the same rules and obligations as the general community with regards to testing and isolating for COVID-19.
“CFA continuously monitors for any operational impacts and there have been no major issues in our ability to deliver high-quality emergency responses through this challenging period of the global pandemic,” the spokesperson said.
The government was contacted for comment.
