Ambulance driver suspended!! Just downright selfish? Or are you honest..........
By mrsl2008
@mrsl2008 (634)
June 7, 2009 6:21am CST
enough to admit you would have done the same??
The news is reporting today that an ambulance driver who was 15 minutes over his shift took a detour via his depot so he could get off work. Ok, your thinking no problem so far.....
It turns out a critically ill patient was being tended to in the rear of the ambulance by another medic. As the driver handed over the keys to the next driver he failed to mention (alledgedly) that there was a patient in the back.
The next driver got to the hospital as quick as possible but the patient died of a heart attack. The detour added 1/2 mile to the journey.
The original driver and medic in the rear have both been suspended whilst being investigated.
Would you have done the same??
Have you skipped off work whilst having commitments because you were late and gotten into trouble??
Didn't the ambulance driver join the service to save lives?? Or is it just a job because this is what he does day in day out??
I personally think the ambulance driver had no excuse and getting off late should be a given as he is part of the emergency services which I can imagine are very unpredictable.
Share your thoughts on this, I have no other information at the min, the news may have dramatised the facts and I'm aware many factors may alter views.
Mrsl x x
1 person likes this
3 responses
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
7 Jun 09
My sister is an EMT and a Registered Nurse. SHe has had to work over her specific time to get off work so many shifts that we stoped counting. When you train for a job like that you do not do it for the money or the "great" hours, you do it becuase you have a passion for helping people and you like the excitement.
Even if the news dramatized the facts, if their was a paitient in the ambulance then the job should have been finished before anyone thought of going home. Even after a run their is paper work that has to be done and the ambulance has to be restocked.
The driver should be lucky to keep his job and if the person in the back was not throwing a huge fit then they should consider themselves lucky too.
2 people like this
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
8 Jun 09
You would not even need a good lawyer to get serious money from this case. Those people should loose their liscense. That is just crazy.
1 person likes this
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
8 Jun 09
There was no excuse for what the driver or the attending medic did. My fiance is a firefighter/emt, and many times he has had to work over because they got paged out for a medical call only minutes before their shift ended. I can honestly say that my fiance does the job because he loves what he does, not because it is just a 'job'. He works to save lives and it upsets him if the ending is not good for the patient, even though he knows he did all he could. I realize that it is protocol to do an internal investigation into the 'allegations', however, if it is found that they were guilty, they should be terminated on the spot and not allowed to work in the emergency services. You are correct, the emergency services is very unpredictable. But, we are both lucky in that we both understand that aspect of it. We will be married in September, he is a structural firefighter/emt, and I am a wildland firefighter.....so I'm sure there will be more than once that one of us is not home for dinner, or plans get changed at the last minute. But we both understand that, and neither of us would compromise our positions just to get home 'on time'.
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@mrsl2008 (634)
•
9 Jun 09
Congratulations for your upcoming wedding, I hope it all goes well and you both manage to get there at the say time:-)
It is nice to hear from someone who is dedicated and passionate about what they do & I agree that they should be fired or at least the driver. As for the medic in the back of the ambulance, did they really have control over what the driver was doing? I can imagine they were busy dealing with the patient!
1 person likes this
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
10 Jun 09
Thanks, but on that day, our pagers, radios and all will be turned off! lol and everyone will know well ahead of time that we will not be on the job that day.
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@thenextnoel (396)
• Philippines
8 Jun 09
It's all about going the extra mile (no pun intended). Being with the health care industry means taking the risk that you might have to go to work earlier and get home later. It's not without rewards though. Other than the huge paycheck you also get the satisfaction of saving lives. Thanks for the discussion :)
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