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Ah my apologises I thought you were. So you walk all day none stop, never stop for tea or a nice sandwich?
Back in the day yeah we did but as he mentioned the conditions were changed some without us be able to negotiate. Like I mentioned I come from an era where it was the case you got paid for breaks. I enter my 24th year this year of working in the Ambulance service, it's changed an awful lot in that time and the work load has got more and more, even more so in the last few years. 12 hours none stop working would be no good at all but most of my shifts are around 13 hours plus often over 14 hours I really can't see why that would nice at all.
meh, I take groups out on the hill and expedition and do not get a break for 8 hours for a day walk, can be upto 5 days with a group on exped. I likely get paid half as much as you lot as well.
See I see this, and I get what you are saying, but what "I hear is I get PAID to go walk on a hill!?!" In a incredulous, pinching yourself kinda voice. You are a lucky sod to make that work...
Code purple plus the muppet....
meh, I take groups out on the hill and expedition and do not get a break for 8 hours for a day walk, can be upto 5 days with a group on exped. I likely get paid half as much as you lot as well.
Says a lot that we likely only pay folk twice what a person earns to walk folk around hills than we do to be paramedics. Given the work they do and the horrors that they see and have to live with, oh and add the threats and abuse they have put up with.
How dare the police not have pay cuts and ambulance staff have breaks when there are poor souls that have to walk In The hills !!
Paramedics are band 5 earning between 21 and 34k depending on shifts and time on the job. On average I get about 200 a month extra for enforced overtime.
So you walk all day none stop, never stop for tea or a nice sandwich?
Yes, but usually this is when you need to keep an eye on the little darlings as they climb the nearest tree, pick an argument, spill the soup over themselves or similar.
I do not expect any sympathy for my job - I love it and would not have it any other way.
BUT, I do wonder if we need to adopt this attitude back with so many of our workers. Some jobs just need 'big' or flexible in breaks and approaches to them, and both workers and employers need to come to a practicable and honourable agreement on how to do this.
The thing with ambulances is theyre expensive to lease and to staff, so when one is out on a job, or waiting in a long queue at the local hospital or on route to a less busy/specialist centre is unavailable for patients to use.
If staff are having their designated break, then control will not bother them but send the next nearest vehicle to attend, the actual ambulance staff on the vehicle may not know they could have attended a call.
We could have an ambulance on call on every town and more in cities, but then who is going to pay for them, and then there are the muppets who want an ambulance sending when a taxi could do the same job, and gp,s who request an ambulance instead of antaxi for patient transport.
Yes, but usually this is when you need to keep an eye on the little darlings as they climb the nearest tree, pick an argument, spill the soup over themselves or similar.
How about doing 10 hours and only getting a few cups of water whilst you hand a patient over, not unusual for that to happen to us. I agree we maybe should have a better arrangement but just would not get a break and if they could spare us to have a break why should they pay for that?
I love my job still it's a great job but the workload we're under now and the extra responsibility makes it hard work at time, I do get paid well as a first line manager with so many years service. A lot more than I use to get paid as again I come from a time when we were paid a rather lot lower amount. As mentioned on the Police thread just because you don't have certain conditions does not mean everyone else should do without.
IanMunro - Member
As you said, I think the answer is to kill Richard Medley
Not in the same league as ambulance drivers, but, when I worked for virgin media I often had to deal with complaints from the public about VM techs sat in their vans eating and reading the paper for "an hour" in their street. It took most people a while for the penny to drop when I asked them if they had lunch breaks in their jobs
I agree Drac - the difference between workable and unreasonable - the classic back-in-the-day-we-did-work-some-busy-lunches, but now it is everyday, unreasonable and unfair as we need to squeeze more and more out of the budget (and so people).
I am more frustrated when I here about people who bemoan loosing a few mins of a lunch hour as a meeting overran etc...
STATEMENT from COLLEGE of PARAMEDICSThe 'grotesque truth' of Richard & Judy
2013-01-15
January 15, 2013, Press Dispensary. British paramedics' blood is boiling at an article written by Richard & Judy - Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan - in Saturday's Daily Express. And members of the College of Paramedics are reporting a backlash from members of the public. They are calling for Richard Madeley to apologise unequivocally and to donate his Daily Express fee to the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund.
On Saturday January 12, 2013, under the heading "RISKING A BABY'S LIFE FOR LUNCH" the Richard & Judy article asserted the "grotesque truth" that "West Midlands Ambulance Service's finest continued to munch their lunch after a six-week-old baby boy suffered a heart attack" and that "Incredibly, paramedics refused to interrupt their lunch break despite an emergency call for an ambulance to attend"(1).
"It's simply not true that this crew sat 'feeding their faces' knowing that a patient, in this case a baby, was suffering a life-threatening heart condition," said Andy Proctor, Paramedic spokesperson for College of Paramedics members in the West Midlands.
"It's absolutely outrageous to suggest that this or, indeed, any paramedic or ambulance crew would knowingly sit eating a meal whilst a child's life is at threat . We believe that this article has totally misreported the facts in this case."
Proctor continued:
"What he [Madeley] also didn't mention is that a paramedic was already at the patient's side within minutes, providing life-saving treatment."Not only has it caused worry and humiliation to the individuals concerned, it has also caused worry and concern in the local population."
Jim Petter, Director of Professional Standards, for the College of Paramedics, said:
"This inaccurate and poorly-researched journalism has resulted in not only abuse and threats to one of the country's most dedicated and selfless professions, paramedics, but also potentially caused anxiety, stress and concern for others, including the family of the patient referred to."Chair of the College of Paramedics Council and Consultant Paramedic, Professor Andy Newton, said:
"The College of Paramedics has grave concerns over this unfortunate and poorly articulated news story, which not only serves to defame the paramedics and ambulance crews in question, but also undermines the public’s confidence in our emergency services."Richard & Judy have long been seen as the bastions of sensibility and fairness and have, I understand, previously complained about inappropriate journalism. However, on this occasion it would appear that they have made a grave error of judgement. It is for this reason that I am, on behalf of our members, writing to complain directly to the Daily Express Newspaper, as they do not fall under the remit of the Press Complaints Commission to investigate our complaint."
Chief Executive of the College of Paramedics, David Hodge said:
"Very importantly, our thoughts are with the child and his family, and we sincerely hope that he is able to make as full a recovery as possible."But it is extremely disappointing to read such an article which plainly has not reported all the facts clearly. While we are disappointed that the child had to wait so long for a transporting ambulance when being so ill, I must stress that he was being attended throughout by a life-saving paramedic and that the paramedic crew, so criticised in this article, would not even have been aware of the call.
"We fully support paramedics throughout the UK and also in this instance the West Midlands Ambulance Service. We recognise the immense pressures placed on paramedics, which sometimes involve entire shifts of 12 hours or more, under high pressure, without a proper meal break.
"Paramedics and ambulance crews across the country work under great pressure and under relentless demand. Their well-being has to be considered otherwise they simply wouldn’t be fit to carry out their jobs which are so vital to the public."
The College of Paramedics calls for an unequivocal public apology from Richard Madeley and donation of his fee from the Daily Express to the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund.
matt_outandabout
Are you seriously comparing what you do, to the pressures a Paramedic faces in a 12 hour shift?
To give an example, (I work to the same rules as Drac except I'm on a Rapid Response car) last weekend on one day, I went to several 'run of the mill' jobs, then a resus, followed immediately by a serious outdoor incident which meant I was out in appalling weather (helicopter had to leave without patient due to deteriorating conditions) and I ended up traveling with the patient as all that was available was an 'urgent' crew (not qualified and paid much less than Paramedics). I eventually got a break 8 hours and 10 minutes after the start of my shift, that is 8 hours 10 minutes without a hot drink or even being able to go for a piss, which I took immediately despite being covered in mud, as I was tired, cold, wet and bloody starving. I had started 'cleaning up' when guess what, bang on 1/2 hour another emergency came in, which I had no option but to attend despite looking like I had waded through The Somme, because "there was no-one else"!
With comments like that, I think you are best suited to stopping kids climbing trees. Keep up the good work!I do wonder if we need to adopt this attitude back with so many of our workers. Some jobs just need 'big' or flexible in breaks and approaches to them, and both workers and employers need to come to a practicable and honourable agreement on how to do this.
So nobody ever works through their lunch in case of "emergency" at work?
Yeah but when you're in the emergency services, pretty much all your work is emergencies (the clue is in the title). An "emergency" for me is an unusual event (drooping member on set) and it won't kill me (or anyone else) if I work through it because I will more than likely have a non-emergency period a couple of hours later. But if you're an ambo or firie, neither of those assumptions is necessarily right.
Not sure how I missed this thread.
All I have to say is "wow" at Matt. What a great statement, must be tough for you and your clients if you make them walk all day without a break. I suggest a [s]day[/s] week in the NHS to see how lucky you are.
My wife regularly comes home "broken" after a 12 hr shift on the wards, no meal breaks, verbal, physical abuse. Lost count the amount of times she has fallen asleep in the car in the drive as she's completely knackered.
All the best for your next days work, going for a walk.