OCJ

Hey Guys, I'm replying because someone asked for someone from the UK to answer. I work as part of a Voluntary Aid Society in the UK, and we cover some EMS calls, whilst the government agencies (ambulance trusts) cover the majority. In reply to various questions about UK legal systems and so on, the girl in this case committed a violent act, and because she was convicted, that will remain on her criminal record. In the UK, arrest records are only available to the police and security services, so unless convicted, a person doesn't gain a criminal record. Criminal records are considered current for 7 years after an offence, after which the convict no longer has to declare them, however if a former convict applies for certain jobs, they will be required to consent to a Criminal Records Bureau(CRB) check, which come in two types. A standard CRB will disclose all crimes committed in the last 7 years, and may include more serious crimes if they fit certain criteria. For jobs which involve positions of particular trust, working with children or vulnerable adults etc (such as EMS work), an enhanced CRB is done, and this shows whether an individual is included on the various registers of criminals, such as those concerned with crimes against vulnerable persons. Crimes against vulnerable person sounds like it's a sex offenders register, but it in fact includes for example carers convicted of stealing money from their charges and many other types of criminal. People who appear on these lists will be sent a CRB Enhanced disclosure which shows this, and a copy is also sent to their current employer, who can make an informed descision. Usually the person won't be employed, but sometimes their crime will be considered minor, and instead of refusing employment, adjustments to what they do will be made. The girl in this story who attacked a paramedic successfully appealed against only the sentence length, having originally pled guilty. She will have this criminal record permanently, and details of it will be available to most employers for 7 years. Because it was a violent offence, it will be available to certain employers permanently. Finally in reply to the comment about an animosity towards EMS in the UK, I assure you that stories about refusing to respond whilst on lunch etc are all greatly exagerrated. EMS employees frequently complain about such things, but I have yet to meet an Ambulance Worker who doesn't work hard and with dedication for their patients. As was said earlier, you can't necessarily believe the papers and media on anything! There is no general animosity against EMS staff themselves, but there is frequently animosity against the government and governing bodies for the performance of EMS. Stories about overly long response times are reasonably frequent, but I've not known people to blame them on the crews themselves. It's more of a funding thing, and in actual fact, the vast majority of calls are answered within their alloted times (8mins for urgent and 19mins for less urgent). Incidents of violence against crews are becoming more frequent (or at least more covered in the press), but almost all of these have to do with our UK drinking culture, which is admittedly pretty bad. Whilst most people drink fairly sensibly, the small minority who don't can cause a lot of mayhem in a short space of time. Nearly all violence against clinicians is to do with drink or drugs. Really long reply, but I hope it helps clarify some points, and disspell some stereotypes that are wrong!