enforced paramedics meal breaks

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I think that ambulance staff should be paid for their meal breaks and remain on duty and able to respond at all times.

How can it be acceptable to send crews who may be miles away to an emergency when there are crews only a couple of miles away?

How demoralising for the paramedics who have chosen a career to save lives, to be not told of an emergency because they are on their enforced meal break.

It is especially dangerous in a rural county.

The police and fire crews have to leave their meals and attend any emergency straight away.
So, if there is a serious traffic accident, you may have fire and police attending from same town but the ambulance crew at that time are on their break so one attends from miles and miles away.
Ok, police have basic first aid training and fire crews have more training but people could (and actually have) died due to time delay when there has been an ambulance crew nearer but they were on a break.

Not all situations require police or fire or mountain rescue and just require paramedics.

At least if the fire or police attend you have a greater chance of getting first aid.

I thought ambulances were 'emergency' services.

What will it be next?

Will you have to die in a house fire because the local crew are having a cup of tea and a sarnie?

Will you have to get murdered because the local police are having a pie?

This is not directed at the paramedics doing the job.
Having needed their services several times with my young son, I admire them.

I just feel it is a bad decision to save money by not paying staff for their meal break.
No doubt managers will come up with figures showing how can cover the rural area adequately and make average response times.
It isnt good enough for a service who is there to save life.

If you are dying, minutes count.
Knowing that an ambulance crew might be five minutes away but cant attend because they are forced to take a break and so instead you might be waiting an hour is bad.
 
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Paramedics have the weakest union in history.

A GP gets paid £145,000 per year for being a basic triage service that doesn't even work on weekends.

A Paramedic that saves lives gets about £24,000 - and works round the clock.

Crazy.


joe
 
toffee said:
I think that ambulance staff should be paid for their meal breaks and remain on duty and able to respond at all times.
Have to agree, I get paid my for my lunch break because of my job situation, their job is more life saving than my job but as Joe says they have a weak union.
 
toffee said:
The police and fire crews have to leave their meals and attend any emergency straight away.

If you saw the dispatches doc on ch4 the other night it is clear that this isn't the case for the police. Officers had thier 'mealy' and didn't get up to attand a 999 call.

toffee said:
At least if the fire or police attend you have a greater chance of getting first aid.

In the same documentary officers drove past a badly injured man and left him as it was close to clocking off time.
 
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I didnt watch that but heard about it.
I think that it would be very wrong to assume that all police are the same.
I have personal experience of many police and fire officers who would find the behaviours you have described as wholly unacceptable.

Id like to stress that equivalent circumstances could be shown within social services, hospitals, probation, prison etc.. most definately.


The point is however, that fire and police will attend and have to attend incidents whether or not they having a meal.
They are paid to do so.
( if they dont then that is a seperate disciplinary issue)

Surely cuts could be made elsewhere?

will we have private ambulances full stop next?
 
spark123, you will know what I mean....

it isnt like in a town here..
 
I know exactly what you mean, I live in the part of the world covered the ambulance station in question!! ;)
 
oh dear spark... yes, you are out on a limb for not only the ambulance.
 
Well, about 30mins along the some of the worst roads in the country from Barrow, I can hardly remember the last time I went to the towns up the coast, I think that I was visiting hospital. It's easier for me to to head south for Lancaster/Preston than Carlisle, plus there's more there. Public transport is also pretty useless to the north of me but quite good to the south.
 
Surely they could just have split shifts at breaktimes?

It sounds like yet another example of the public services living in the dark ages to me.
 
pb, sorry but Im not sure what you mean by split shift at break times?
not being awkward...
 
toffee said:
pb, sorry but Im not sure what you mean by split shift at break times?
not being awkward...

Are you being serious toffee or what?

An example would be half the team going for lunch from say 12 till 1 and the rest having 1 till 2, or what have you.

It is a rather simple system which works well in the vast majority of businesses.
 
pb, despite your lack of faith in me, I was being serious.

That cant work here in cumbria.

So, thankyou for your clarification
( pity about the sarcasm.. you make such smart alec assumptions )

The crews can not operate like that due to the limited amount of crews on at any one time in a rural area.

sometimes there isnt another crew to take over at the same station!!!
 
When there is only one ambulance to cover 100 square miles plus with one crew on a night shift it is impossible to split baits, which was the case.
 
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