A man who pretended to be a paramedic at motorcycle events and who treated a child involved in a collision has been ordered to serve a 24-month community corrections order.
Lachlan Gardner marketed himself as a paramedic via his company, Event Health Services, and subsequently provided emergency first aid services at motorcycle events held throughout regional New South Wales in 2023. He holds no qualifications in the field and has never being registered as a paramedic.
At one event at Lake Innes near Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast, Gardner treated a child who had been involved in a collision, the Downing Centre local court in Sydney heard.
While treating the child, Gardner had falsely told a triple-zero operator he was a paramedic so the operator did not provide instructions on caring for the child until he could be airlifted to hospital, where he was then admitted to intensive care.
The title “paramedic” is protected by the national law, which means that only those who are qualified and who hold registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency can lawfully refer to themselves as one.
On Thursday Gardner pleaded guilty to one charge of holding himself out as a registered paramedic and two charges of describing himself as authorised or qualified to practice as a paramedic. He was convicted and ordered to serve a 24-month community corrections order and to pay $5,000 in legal costs.
Ahpra’s chief executive, Martin Fletcher, described Garder’s actions as “a gross violation of the trust of the community”.
The agency said the child had made a full recovery: “There is no evidence Mr Gardner’s offending caused any harm to the injured child.”
The Paramedic Board of Australia chair, Prof Stephen Gough, said: “To be able to call yourself a paramedic means that you have the necessary skills and qualifications to provide safe and appropriate care.
“Mr Gardner’s use of the title not only discredits the important work of our profession but puts members of the public in unnecessary danger.”
