EMS crew caught sleeping in ambulance

Mufasa556

Mufasa556

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http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-...nce-unclear-whether-the-workers-were-on-break

First the idiots with camera's came for the police. Now they come for us.

All joking aside, the article didn't really tell me anything. Can anyone confirm:

1. Cleveland EMS is separate from fire?

2. They do SSM posting?

SSM is rough and trying to explain it to the public is sometimes difficult. We would spend hours sleeping in the parking lot across from the fire station on night shift. It was the darkest area within our posting area. I know all the little hiding spots to nap within our different posting areas. If we're not assigned to a call. We are on break.
 
the poor misinformed public. ugh, i wanna roll my eyes out of my head.
 
I think this story is utter BS. I've been working nights for more then 2 years now and can't begin to explain how important it is to get a nap in when ever possible. Especially if you work in a busy system. It's the harsh reality that we live in times where nothing goes with out public scrutiny. From what I read it seemed the by stander had a chip on his shoulder to begin with due to a past event they didn't get into. I think this is just a shame. It's unrealistic to think people who work nights can go non stop all night with out a break. We as humans are like beautiful flowers and thrive in the sun. We are not meant to be nocturnal. Hopefully this doesn't blow up into a giant clusterfolk. Anyway, hope everyone's their Sunday.
 
Definitely a trustworthy report and good journalism when you include an interview with a person unassociated with the story [the fire chief] and report that you "were given the run around".
 
Obviously this is a crap story.

I can only hope that Cleveland EMS responds appropriately. Sadly EMS agencies are often apt to do nothing about easily correctable bad PR. This is a perfect time to educate the public and not just sweep it under the rug.
 
People working night shifts need naps? how about people working 24 and more hours straight? I would rather ALL EMS and Fire personnel get naps during their shifts so that they can function when the **** hits the fan
 
It's refreshing to read the comments on the link provided. Seems as if many non EMS folks are just as pissed as the EMS folks about new report
 
Could you imagine if the public came into a station and saw the couches, beds, and kitchen. Miss informed public, We sleep when we can.
 
Next news article: Residents found sleeping in hospital call rooms.

SMH.
 
EMT11KDL said:
Could you imagine if the public came into a station and saw the couches, beds, and kitchen. Miss informed public, We sleep when we can.
Click to expand...
NEWS 5 SPECIAL REPORT: EMS PERSONNEL FOUND SLEEPING ON DUTY
 
What I would give for 30 minutes of sleep on those stand up 24's. last week my partner gave up on even getting out of the ambulance when we got to quarters seeing as we were running back to back postings and calls.
 
"They messin' with peeple's lives? Hey doofus, if they weren't napping they could easily make a mistake in patient care from exhaustion.

EMS is it's own worst enemy. We don't educate people in what we do, or why they see us doing some things, such as napping on post. I've been doing this for 35 years and have yet to figure out why there i so little public education. Police and fire do it, why can't we?
 
I definitely needed this news story... I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. On a serious note, though, why do people with little to no knowledge of the system feel the need to comment on it or tell us how to do our jobs? I just thought it was hilarious that this gentleman thought they were sleeping through calls... I don't think public education will matter much in this scenario, because telling people we sleep would just make them mad. Oh well... what's one more bad PR segment?
 
the comments are pretty awesome. no ones buying into that crap
 
I might be looked at as an *** but if you're on a twelve hour overnight yoi shouldn't be sleeping on duty. Plan your day appropriately for your work schedule. I work in a hospital on night shifts and if a nurse or tech was caught sleeping there would be issues. If they've said they're posting on a 24 or longer then what I said doesn't apply.
Like I said, just my opinion
 
TransportJockey said:
I might be looked at as an *** but if you're on a twelve hour overnight yoi shouldn't be sleeping on duty. Plan your day appropriately for your work schedule. I work in a hospital on night shifts and if a nurse or tech was caught sleeping there would be issues. If they've said they're posting on a 24 or longer then what I said doesn't apply.
Like I said, just my opinion
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If the nurse or tech was purely on call ("engaged to wait" being the proper HR term) and did not have any current patient care duties AND didn't have to monitor anything (i.e. pager dispatch), then I wouldn't have a problem with it. No one gets upset if the on call physician is sleeping overnight, regardless of how long they've been on duty. The immediate duties of an EMS crew and a hospital nurse are not the same.
 
I like how they think we get breaks. Think people would run news reports about crews not getting any downtime for 24+ hours?
 
We sleep all the time in the ambulance. We wake up when we get a call.
 
EMTinCT said:
We sleep all the time in the ambulance. We wake up when we get a call.
Click to expand...
Exactly, When I got hired at my gig I was told if you think you may take a nap do it out of the publics eye go behind a building
 
twistedMP said:
Exactly, When I got hired at my gig I was told if you think you may take a nap do it out of the publics eye go behind a building
Click to expand...

We have our "spots" where we will park the ambulance. Behind a business complex, on the far side of the large parking lot, etc. The diesel engine is soothing and it's easy to fall asleep on the padded bench in the back.
 
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