Mandatory lunch break a good idea?

[fiznat]

We do "system status management" where I work, so we are out in the ambulances all day either driving around or staging for a call. There are no designated meal breaks, but at the same time there is no maximum time we are allowed to spend at a hospital after a call. If a crew really needs to grab some food or use the facilities, there is usually time to do that right after dropping the patient off at the hospital by simply not making themselves available for dispatch until they've got what they need. It isn't an official policy, and dispatch doesn't like it, but it seems to be a necessity in a system that doesn't give us official breaks.

[jonas salk]

None of the current bases I work out of (roving deployment plan so there is no real 'home base' in my service) have an oven or stove so I never have to worry about running and leaving something in the oven lol. But as i've mentioned, there have been a few times where we've been toned out almost as soon as I pull my meal out of the microwave.

As for restaurants, i've had happen a couple times. One day while working at my first service my partner and I decided on Quiznos for lunch, right as we ordered our sandwhiches and they were placed in the oven dispatch radioed us for a call. We paid and walked to the truck. A few hours later after we cleared we went back to the Quiznos and they had our subs for us, just they were a bit soggy now. We collected them, only to get dispatched to another call. One that had 2 hours of offload delay.

All I can say is that Quiznos tastes much, much better when it's fresh and non-soggy.

I tell every student who comes along with us, that they should bring food with them, it is so much healthier. I work with some people who eat out every shift, and it shows. Personally, I don't want to spend 5-10 bucks on a meal at work, and when I do (due to me forgetting food, or the shift was a last minute call in), i just remind myself that the $10 processed crap i'm eating represents about 18 minutes of work.

[Kiwiology]

Man I feel sorry for you guys; all our stations have a kitchen[ette] and our breaks are not only a union but also a legal requirement.

Oh and we don't sit on a street corner neither because we don't subscribe to Jack Stout's BS SSM theory.

[jonas salk]

Man I feel sorry for you guys; all our stations have a kitchen[ette] and our breaks are not only a union but also a legal requirement.

Oh and we don't sit on a street corner neither because we don't subscribe to Jack Stout's BS SSM theory.

We have our two 30 minute meal breaks per 12 hrs, unfortunately they can be disturbed. But when that happens we get an extra $10/missed lunch for the shift. Personally i'd like to see stiffer penalties, but it probably won't happen. The last service I worked for had no compensation if we missed a lunch; all the CBA said was that management would 'endeavour' to give us our breaks. Though i'm sure that'll be changed once they get their new contract.

As for the kitchenette, it's a nice touch, but I'm not sure we'd be in base long enough to utulize it.

As for the roving deployment plan, i honestly don't mind it so much. We are put into bases, so it's not like we're sitting in a parking lot somewhere.

[Medic One]

My thoughts as a manager but not the one that signs the checks.

Mandatory downtime lunch breaks....NO (we do tell crews to make pick-ups but they all know at anytime they are in service)

BUT

I think there should be some other perks included.

Face it folks an average call takes less than 1 hr in most systems...there is downtime between calls most of the time I know this because your in the bus facebooking, EMTCitying, IMing, and goofing off filliing your partners boots with shaving cream. When it is busy you never think about food let alone having to go to the bathroom.

I think what IS needed if you don't get a 30min downtime lunch is some type of NON-TAXABLE CASH stipend daily for food. So you can stop on the services time to grab taco bell, subway or a hospital caf lunch. This is a win win situation...your crews can eat if they get time to stop and if not they have a few bucks in there pocket. If you decide to brown bag it thats good also. During times when we have major incidents, standby's or extra long shifts we have as managers picked up box lunches from a local deli and a supervisor deliver them to the crews on the road.

This is a sticky subject but I think passing calls to other services or units father away because "Mr or MRS I need to fill my face" is on lunch it makes EMS in a whole look bad and uncaring. We all took an oath to help the sick..so suck it up people or find a job somewhere else.

So I googled "Food taster Jobs" for you "FACE FILLERS" there are plenty out there start looking.

My thoughts whether you like it or not.

[Dustdevil]

Then don't eat in the vehicle?

I didn't say they prohibited eating in the ambulance. I said they prohibited food in the ambulance. Two different things.

Hard to brown bag it if you can't carry food in the ambulance.

[jonas salk]

I didn't say they prohibited eating in the ambulance. I said they prohibited food in the ambulance. Two different things.

Hard to brown bag it if you can't carry food in the ambulance.

Really? So what do they expect the staff to do for food? If you're not allowed to bring food then how exactly are you supposed to eat during your shift?

And why would they prohibit food in the vehicle?

[BushyFromOz]

My thoughts as a manager but not the one that signs the checks.

Mandatory downtime lunch breaks....NO (we do tell crews to make pick-ups but they all know at anytime they are in service)

<<snip>>

My thoughts whether you like it or not.

No, i don't like it, in fact, i think your post shows the absolute hypocrisy, lack of leadership and management ideals that are so bereft of foresight and decent HR principle its should be criminally insane.

Constantly, we are reminded to PSA's about driver reviving, not travelling long hours without sufficient stops to ensure you don't end up another statistic when you fall asleep at the wheel and wipe yourself and god knows who else off the planet. Truck drivers, taxi drivers, surgeons, airline pilots, bus drivers, nurses hell, even the guy at the kwik e mart is legislated on maximum number of works hours, consecutive works days, hours of between shifts and mandatory rest breaks including to opportunity to eat based on a principle of injury and liability prevention to ourselves, workmates and the public.

Then there is ambulance.......

For some fucking reason we are supposed to be some kind of superhuman bravado bullshit that doesn't need to rest, can go long hours without eating, using a toilet or being able to scratch you nuts. Fuck, taxi drivers are fined if they don't take adequate rest breaks but for some reason though i'm hauling sick humans and he's hauling healthy ones, im allowed to drive 14hours straight without a break and he's not, figure the sense in that.

You certified genius's in management cry foul at having rest breaks because of resourcing (exceptional circumstances accepted) shortfalls, then put on more staff.

Wait, my bad, you only encourage safety when it doesn't cost money

Ridiculous..........

[Lone Star]

Au Bon Pain (NYC) should be a neon example of what can occur when lunch breaks become mandatory.

I've worked some realy 'gnarly' shifts (38 calls in 24 hours). Yes, most of them were IFT's, but the point still remains; we ran our humps off that day!

I DO see the need for some 'down time' somewhere in the shift. It's unacceptable that one or two rigs are getting hammered while there's 10 rigs 'at quarters' wondering what's left in their picnic coolers that they were able to bring from home.

What I find hard to understand is this:

EMS in the United States is under the National Highway Traffic Administration, who is a subcategory of the Department of Transportation.

The D.O.T. has seen fit to mandate 'down time' for truckers, cabbies, et al; but they seem to have 'forgotten' those of us in the trenches.

Of course, our employers are loving this 'oversight' because that gives them the lattitude to create long shifts; thereby covering more hours with less and less people.

[Dustdevil]

So what do they expect the staff to do for food? If you're not allowed to bring food then how exactly are you supposed to eat during your shift?

Eat inside the restaurant or outside.

And why would they prohibit food in the vehicle?

Infection control and sanitation. Pretty standard for hospitals and other biohazardous areas.