legal ramifications

[Laura Anne]

It is true that I could live off of one salary, I suppose. Unfortunately, I'd be living in a pretty run down place, and I chose to live in a place that is safe....therefore Crotch, I work more than one job. I am single and have a mortgage as well as other bills.

[mobey]

As much as this may cause pandamonium in the thread....... This is the reason I support unionized EMS.

I gotta say.... If my partner ever turned to me and said "I am way too tired to drive" then I sure as hell don't want her attending either, would you want someone that tired attending to your family member??

I'm tellin ya.... Union is the way to go!

[p3medic]

We work 8's with 16 hours max allowed in a 24hr period.

[Just Plain Ruff]

As much as this may cause pandamonium in the thread....... This is the reason I support unionized EMS.

I gotta say.... If my partner ever turned to me and said "I am way too tired to drive" then I sure as hell don't want her attending either, would you want someone that tired attending to your family member??

I'm tellin ya.... Union is the way to go!

collective bargaining units are sometimes not too bad a deal for the worker. Just look at the auto unions, 78 bucks an hour to put together a car.

ON the other hand, having a union at the EMS shop to somehow push thru safety initiatives such as sleeping issues is a great thing but there are many drawbacks of unions too.

I'm neither for or against unions overall.

[crotchitymedic1986]

You dont have to live in a rundown house cynical. How much are your car payments ? You only have to look back at your grandparents and parents --- most didnt have a new car or a mortgage until they were in their 30's. But we have to have a 250k house and 600/month in car payments before the age of 25 now. Other things you might waste money on, that many see as necessities:

How many EMS folks have:

1. A cell phone bill that is over $100.00 per month (along with a home line that is 50-100/month)

2. An internet bill of $20-50/month

3. A cable/satellite bill of $50-100/month

4. A huge expenditure on meals at work, instead of brown-bagging it.

5. $20-50/week tobacco habit (or more).

6. $ 5 /day at starbucks.

7. A house that is way to big or expensive for their family --- When the foreclosure mess first hit, i remember seeing a teacher on CNN who was bitching cause she was loosing her house that she mortgaged for $370k, when her and her husband had only $72k in yearly income --- DUUUUUHHHHH

I am not saying it is easy to live off of $40k, but most families do -- you just might have to wait on buying the biggest and the best until you have saved money.

[VentMedic]

Going back to the Good Sam laws: If memory serves me correctly, Good Sam only happens when the person rendering aid, to the level of training, performs the aid with no expectation of financial or other type of payback.

I believe NJ and MA have wording in their Good Sam laws for paid EMS providers.

Good Article:

http://www.emsresponder.com/publication/ar...d=1&id=6186

Statutory Immunity

Every state has at least one law that confers immunity on those who provide emergency care. Originally, these "Good Samaritan" statutes applied only to volunteers, to encourage trained individuals to help at roadside emergencies by alleviating fear of lawsuits. Today, many states extend this protection to paid EMS personnel as well.

Some Good Samaritan statutes grant immunity for all forms of negligence. Others employ a "gross negligence" standard, protecting those who commit ordinary negligence, but not recklessness. Because Good Samaritan immunity varies so widely from one jurisdiction to another, you might want to contact your organization's legal counsel or state EMS office to determine what type of protection you enjoy.

Employees of government EMS systems, including municipal and county EMTs and paramedics, enjoy another type of statutory protection, called sovereign immunity. In most states, sovereign immunity statutes mirror the language of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which requires the U.S. government to indemnify EMS personnel for negligent acts, while imposing a limit of $100,000 on damages. Thus, in most states, a patient who sues a municipal EMT for negligence may collect up to $100,000 from the city in which the incident occurred, but nothing from the EMT personally.

Note that these statutes provide immunity from liability, not from lawsuits.

And one more articles

http://www.emsresponder.com/features/artic...p;siteSection=3

[Mateo_1387]

Even those that complain of how tired they are may be reluctant to go to 12 hour shifts if given the option tomorrow.

Probably due to that thing called tradition....

I worked for a service that was transitioning trucks to 12-hour shifts. They ended up with nobody interested in the 12-hour shifts. Now, a few years later, they have waiting lists to get on the 12's! (Some) People are realizing that the 12-hour shifts are not so bad.

[Arizonaffcep]

I would hope that you would realize this, before going on a call.

The biggest difference is how you let your service treat you! If I am to exhausted or too sick to work, then I will pull myself off the street. Supervisors do not have a say in it. I have no problem walking out the door, I can find another job! The only time I wait is if I am in the middle of a call. As soon as it is over, I go out of service.

There is a demand out there for personnel. I can go any where and get a job. I do not let a service dictate my Pt's or my own safety.

You screw up on a call because you are tired, it is your arse on the line. You will lose your license and a lot more. I take my safety and my certs, seriously. I would hope others do to! :wink:

I completely agree with you, its a huge liability! But...the companies I used to work for use it as an intimidation factor...they are the only games in their respective counties.

[reaper]

But, there are lots of counties in this country! So that is still a personal preference. :wink:

[Eydawn]

Companies will push for longer hours without sleep until they get sued because a provider screwed up. I think the way my company does it is pretty intelligent. The shifts are 12 hour shifts (with the exception of the boonie shift, that's a 24, but there's built in sleep time on that one.) You MUST have 8 hours off in between 12's, or you can't work.

I can't envision any of my supervisors saying no, you gotta go on that call, if we called them and said look, we have a problem here. Especially if it had been a crazy day. Any supervisor that pushes you past the point of safety is an idiot, and you really should be thinking about just how safe it is for you to continue working there. We can all put up and shut up to some degree, but somewhere you gotta draw the line and say "it's not worth it" and look for other employment.

Case in point... I left my last job when they began insisting that what I documented wasn't what happened and began insisting that I work in an unsafe environment (for me, and for the clients I worked with). So-long, see ya, sayonara. It wasn't worth my future in medicine to continue working there.

Wendy

CO EMT-B