‘Butchering their hair’: Paramedics feel violated after ‘barbaric’ drug testing process

Dozens of paramedics have been left feeling “violated” after drug testers took huge chunks of their hair in what’s been described as a “brutal and barbaric” process.

Head of the Ambulance Employees Association of Victoria Danny Hill told Neil Mitchell between “25-25” Ambulance Victoria employees were subjected to the drug testing ordeal.

“Typically, in Australian research, refers to 120 strands of hair, which is about the thickness of an iPhone charger cable,” Danny said.

“In this instance, one of the young women I spoke with had an area of hair taken out that was 9cm by 3cm across.

“It’s just butchering these poor people’s hair.”

Dozens of @AmbulanceVic paramedics left humiliated and traumatised after barbaric hair testing. This is one sample. Each paramedic had two samples taken.
Members say management were present but didn’t intervene. #Springst pic.twitter.com/s0i0idn3ic

— Danny Hill (@DannyHillAEAVIC) March 30, 2019

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“Drug testing does happen in Ambulance, the union is supportive of that,” he added.

“But this is just completely undignified, it’s brutal, it’s barbaric, we have a lot of upset people at the moment.

“They feel violated in the way this test has been done and we can understand why they’d feel that way.

“Management have apologised for it and we’ll be making a formal complaint about that company to the testing authority.”