PARAMEDICS stopped industrial action yesterday after the State Government in the Industrial Relations Commission moved to try to end the impasse over pay and rest breaks.The dispute mainly centres on mandatory 10-hour rest breaks for paramedics between shifts.Last week paramedics escalated their attempts to pressure the government when they refused to follow Ambulance Victoria policy not to talk to the media.Ten-hour breaks between shifts were enforced with paramedics also issuing bans on billing and paperwork.Ambulance Employees Australia state secretary Steve McGhie described the talks as the State Government's "last chance" to compromise on the issue.Victoria and Western Australia are the only two states where eight-hour rest breaks are considered the minimum between shifts."For 14 months this government has refused point blank to discuss longer rest breaks to combat on-the-job fatigue," Mr McGhie said."It is encouraging the government is now talking with us about longer rest breaks although it is a shame paramedics have had to take industrial action to reach this point."Meanwhile on the same day the State Government returned to the bargaining table with warring paramedics it was also spruiking its commitment to improving the ambulance service.Health Minister Daniel Andrews visited Melbourne's South Morang training facility to welcome 302 new graduate paramedics to the workforce."The deployment of these new paramedics recognises the importance of having people on the ground delivering services to local communities," he said. "This is the biggest recruitment of new paramedics to our ambulance service in the state's history and will see the total number of ambulance paramedics break the 2300 barrier for the first time," he said.