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Second man dies as 999 crews take break
Last updated at 15:52pm on 10.01.07
Ambulance crews say enforced breaks are not practical
The row over ambulance crews being forced to take breaks deepened today as it emerged that a second man died after a long wait to be taken to hospital.
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The 21-year-old, who has not been named, had to wait 14 minutes for an ambulance, even though two other crews were much closer.
He was declared dead on arrival at hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest following a drugs overdose.
It is unclear whether he could have been saved if help had arrived more rapidly at the emergency in Tottenham but ambulance service sources said he would at least have had time to receive potentially life-saving treatment in the hospital.
EU working hours rules and a new NHS pay scheme mean that during a 12-hour shift London paramedics and ambulance technicians must be given a break in which they cannot be sent on 999 calls.
A 73-year-old man died in Edmonton on New Year's Eve after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance when two crews were on a break five minutes away.
The 21-year-old was attended to within five minutes by a single paramedic in a car after collapsing on 21 December.
It took 14 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to take him to hospital. As both available units in Tottenham were on breaks, the nearest working crew had to be summoned fromKing's Cross.
This latest case emerged as controversial new guidance was issued to managers saying paramedics working at the same station should be given breaks simultaneously, despite the potential delays.
One ambulance worker, who asked not to be named, said: "It has caused nothing but problems since it was introduced. Staff deserve a break but we have not got enough crews to make sure we maintain cover and get to calls.
"If crews do not get a break they can go home early - in one area on Christmas Day we had 11 out of 16 crews leave half an hour early because they had not been able to get a break. It meant there were only five ambulances available for calls between 6.30am and 7am on Boxing Day."
Ambulance crews should be given a 45-minute break roughly half way through their shift. During the first 30 minutes they cannot be disturbed at all but in the final 15 minutes they can be sent on the most urgent 999 calls if they are the nearest crew. If this happens, the crew receive £10 each.
The London Ambulance Service's director of operations, Russell Smith, said: "Staff working 12-hour shifts should not be expected to work through without a break and we try to do all we can to ensure that these needs are balanced with those of demand on the 999 service."
Of the policy of putting more than one crew on a break at the same time in the same area, Mr Smith said: "There are occasions when more than one local ambulance crew is put on a break at a time. This is necessary to ensure all staff get a break during their long, demanding shifts.
"Cover is provided by other onduty staff, either from the same station or a neighbouring station, and our control room is responsible for sending the nearest resource to any calls that are received.
"If staff are not allocated a break, this unpaid time is given at the end of their shift, meaning they can leave early. It is important that we do our best to allocate breaks during shifts to avoid large numbers of staff finishing early."
Reader views (13)
And now, the Democrats are making noises about Socialized medicine again. Soon, we, too, will see this kind of bureaucratic idiocy.
- Brian Thomas, Mentor, Ohio, USA
I work part time as a Paramedic. We work either 12 or 24 hour shifts and there are no scheduled breaks. The only breaks are the periods between calls. We can tell dispatch that we are out taking a meal, and if a 911 call comes in they will try to send another unit that is close, but, if it's percevied to be a life threatening emergency, we get sent. I've spent shifts where we've been trying to get calls, the whole shift is one big break, and other shifts where once we've hit the streets we only make it back to quarters long enough to get resupplied, and we don't even get to sit, let alone sleep in our beds. And that's a 24 hour shift, catching catnaps in the rig between calls! To mandate a break in a 12 hour shift, an interuptable break, seems too unrealistic, and it's the community that suffers. Emergency services is a feast or famine type of job, some days you run from call to call, other days your lucky to even have a call. Yet you still get paid whether you run calls or not. Car crashes, stroke, heart attack, etc. don't wait til your off break!
- Scott Speckhart, Springfield, Illinois
This really is sad. My life was saved at 3am by firefighters not on break. A helicopter pilot (a former vietnam vet) negotiated between power lines to get to me. He also was not on break.
- Kara Tyson, Mobile, AL USA
I recently retired from the fourth largest fire service in Florida and one of the fifty largest emergency medical service providers in the US, after 23 years myself and my colleagues would never have neglected our patients in such a crass and morally and ethically challenged disregard for human life. This is bureacracy gone mad. As an American I think I will vacation in the far east or maybe the Baribbean again before considering a trip to London or Europe
- Robert Strang, Cocoa, Florida
In this country our firefighters work 24 hours straight. They are always on duty during that time. The applications for that job are very long indeed and I have never heard a complaint about breaks. I would bet the people that made up these rules will never have to wait on an ambulance.
- T A Paul, West Palm Beach,Florida,USA
I cannot imagine many jobs where the public get so upset when the employee says that they need a break for a meal or just to gather their thoughts after a harrowing piece of work.
Most office workers have a 60 minute lunch break. Lorry drivers are forced to take breaks on a regular basis, so you expect a paramedic to care for you when they are tired, hungry, thirsty, in desperate need of a toilet stop. These people are professional but need some of their basic rights protected otherwise mistakes can/will be made when they get tired.
The only real solution is to have more paramedics so that suitable breaks can be allocated on a rota - subject to what emergencies are coming in.
As for the current victim of "drug overdose" whether as an act of suicide or drug-abuse - they are being selfish. Do we really want someone later in the day to suffer from poor healthcare because of this selfish act?
- Graham, Reading, England
Not sure how EMS is done in London. I am a Paramedic in TN, USA. We work 12 hour shifts (12+ in reality). We do system status, meaning we are constantly on the move between calls. We have posts, based on number of ambulances in service. 1 ambulance gets a call, posts are rearranged to keep response times down.
So, even if not on a call, we are not lollygagging around. We either moving from post to post, or when not moving, monitoring the radios, etc to keep up on the current status of how things are going. As for sleeping in an ambulance, it's possible, but one becomes attuned to their unit number. My system required to be on the scene of any emergeny within 10 minutes of the call 90% of the time from when the call is first received by 911 dispatchers. We also utilize ALS first responders, many of whom are on scene in 3 to 5 minutes.
- Russ, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Unfortunately, our newly elected government is chomping at the bit to force upon us National Health Care. Rest assured thought, that all calls from government officals and offices will be handled immediately, break or now break. Health care often means you get a break when you can, and after 20yrs as a Registered Nurse I know that. To let people die because of a "break" would have once been considered inexcusable. Unfortunately, it looks like it will become the rule rather than the exception.
- Fred, Billings, Montana
A break does not mean you are not working - it means you relax and get something to eat and drink etc. which you can't do if you may have to rush off at a moment's notice. Perhaps Edward would be happy to wear nappies at work?
- Dorothy, London, UK
What are these crews doing when they are not actually out on a call? Presumably they are just sitting around WAITING for a call, and presumably when they are on a "break" they just sit around, EXACTLY as they do when they are waiting for a call, so what's the difference? Or do they sleep for 30-45 minutes? Their duties are to drive to attend to the sick and then drive them back to the hospital; when these crews are waiting for calls, they are not doing anything, are they? In effect, they are resting, they are on a break!
The situation of forced breaks with no interruptions allowed is outrageous and ludicrous, and people's LIVES are at stake here.
Is this same situation going to start applying to fire services and police services???????????
- Edward, Bristol, UK
I can see where people are coming from about the breaks. Consider though the thought of a 12 hour shift without a break. Some would call that slave labour!
- Alex, Cannock
I believe ambulance services have a special statutory protection so you can't sue them if they don't do their job properly. This should be changed.
- Je, london
One should not blame EU rules - every other country in the union seems to handle this issue without these kind of outcomes. It really comes down to the poor execution and implementation of the Health Service. It is really turning in to a country runned by public sector workers without any connection to the reality.
- Bjorn, London
