Mr Sweeney said the TWU, which represents ambulance officers in the ACT, was so concerned it was planning to survey members in the coming weeks to ''gauge the service and see where we are sitting''.

''Anecdotally you would have to say the morale is low at the moment,'' he said. ''They are incredibly overworked.''

In the past week several ACT ambulance paramedics have contacted the Sunday Canberra Times expressing concern that crews are being stretched.

One paramedic, who did not want to be named, said morale was at a ''critical level''.

He said many officers were doing large amounts of overtime ''just to get minimal crewing'' and alleged mismanagement of crews.

Adding to frustrations was time being wasted attending frivolous call-outs.

The paramedic said many officers felt they could not speak out about what was happening in the service, fearing retribution from management.

Another officer alerted us to two incidents in the region on Friday which he used as examples of the extent of crew shortages.

The first was a NSW ambulance crew being called to assist with a ''priority one'' job in the Belconnen region.

Priority one jobs are classified as situations which present immediate danger to life.

The ACT Fire Brigade was also called on the same day to attend a cardiac arrest.

While both incidents were confirmed by authorities, they were said to be normal.

The ACT Emergency Services Authority said the fire brigade arrived ''two minutes'' after an Intensive Care Paramedic and it was not unusual for the two services to work together.

''This ensures the closest, most appropriate emergency service resource is rapidly dispatched to the community,'' the authority said.

The NSW Ambulance Service also said it wasn't unusual for borders to be crossed if they were closer or more available than the other jurisdiction's crews.

The troubles within the ACT service come as the NSW Ambulance Service launched industrial action last week into what it says is critical understaffing and a culture of bullying within the service.

Despite the staffing issues, Mr Sweeney it was ''a long stretch'' to say the service was experiencing the same problems as NSW.

However a ''small delegation'' of union officials and ACT paramedics would be heading to Sydney this week to meet representatives from the Health Services Union to ''convey our support and encouragement at what must be a very difficult time for the officers in NSW''.

ACT Minister for Police and Emergency Services Simon Corbell said ''there was no doubt our ambulance officers are under a lot of pressure'' with the ACT Government putting extra funding and resourcing into the service.

Funding had been provided for 30 additional positions and four additional ambulance vehicles added to the fleet, and he said there had been a 23 per cent staffing increase from 2006.

Mr Corbell said work was also under way which would see ACT Ambulance officers recognised as health professionals, rather than the current classification of general service officer.

He said he would be ''delighted'' to see the results of the TWU survey and would work with the union on any issues that needed to be addressed.