Paramedic driving an ambulance works for 22 hrs and crashes.

kub

I just came across this on the Eircom homepage:

http://news.eircom.net/breakingnews/20788885/

22 Hours working straight, not alone can that be safe but is it legal?

murf313

kub wrote: »

I just came across this on the Eircom homepage:

http://news.eircom.net/breakingnews/20788885/

22 Hours working straight, not alone can that be safe but is it legal?

Its actually "Paramedic", not ambulance driver.....

It was a 12hr shift with another 12hrs on call. Its a outdated and dangerous practice which needs to be ended asap :mad:

donkey balls

kub wrote: »

I just came across this on the Eircom homepage:

http://news.eircom.net/breakingnews/20788885/

22 Hours working straight, not alone can that be safe but is it legal?

Under the WTD it would be illegal to work for that long as you need a minimum of 11 hrs rest,Saying that certain sectors like the transport industry for instance can have truck/bus drivers work up to 15 hrs in one day with a reduced rest period of 9 hrs.
In this day and age and speaking from experience in the industries I work in fatigue is the number one cause of accidents the HSA could be called into investigate the accident and prosecute or enforce the WTD act.

juan.kerr

donkey balls wrote: »

Under the WTD it would be illegal to work for that long as you need a minimum of 11 hrs rest,Saying that certain sectors like the transport industry for instance can have truck/bus drivers work up to 15 hrs in one day with a reduced rest period of 9 hrs.

Are there not a host of exceptions for the Health sector? Junior doctors come to mind.

MarkR

Hopefully it will be the wakeup call that is needed. Thankfully nobody had to die to bring it into the headlines.

coolmoose

Paramedic...

Ridiculous practice that's still in operation today!

juan.kerr

I'm assuming this sort of thing isn't a regular occurance with paramedics, so I think we are jumping to conclusions here.

For all we know it may not have anything to do with the work shifts.

Mycroft H

The on call shifts are still common enough.

juan.kerr

BX 19 wrote: »

The on call shifts are still common enough.

Sorry, I phrased that poorly. I meant accidents like this don't seem to be a regular occurance.

flutered

nothings going to happen while bottler holds the fort.

donkey balls

juan.kerr wrote: »

Are there not a host of exceptions for the Health sector? Junior doctors come to mind.

The EU WTD states that an employee should not work more than 48 hrs per week, afaik the HSE is breaking the directive having the jnr docs work more than the max hours which should be spread over a 17/26 week pattern with the average week coming in at 48hrs.

coolmoose

juan.kerr wrote: »

I'm assuming this sort of thing isn't a regular occurance with paramedics, so I think we are jumping to conclusions here.

For all we know it may not have anything to do with the work shifts.

Of course it is to do with the work shifts, work 12 hours, and then do 12 hours "on-call", which if it's busy, is basically just working another 12 hours...so 24 hours straight driving and attending?!

I certainly find it tiring enough doing a busy 12 hour shift, the concept of having to do another 12 hours and be expected to respond safely on blue lights, safely administer medications, and deal with difficult scenes, patients etc. is just madness IMO.

Shouldn't be happening in this day and age.

Potential-Monke

The WTD also states that under no circumstances should someone work more than 16 hours straight. Blatent breach of the directive, and hopefully this will lead to a change in the way things are done.

The driver would be completely entitled to bring a case against the HSE. Thank god no-one was injured. I'm sure the HSE will try and place the blame on the driver though.

kub

murf313 wrote: »

Its actually "Paramedic", not ambulance driver.....

It was a 12hr shift with another 12hrs on call. Its a outdated and dangerous practice which needs to be ended asap :mad:

Murf, I am sorry, I was actually in the process of turning off my computer when I started this thread, so time was an issue.

Of course the misfortunate professional is a Paramedic, sorry again if I have offended any Parademic's out there.

Ps is there a way that I can change the title? or could a Mod please do the necessary? I have tried to edit it but its only the post that i can access.

Turner

Done.

kub

Turner wrote: »

Done.

Thanks for that Turner, I know that my title did upset a few paramedic's .