Thread by @GlenwrightCook

Ambulance strikes, and the state of play in the ambulance world. A long thread. 🧵

It was a saturday night.
I turned in for my rostered shift - something like the 4th or 5th 12hr shift of that week - and as I normally do, I cast my eyes down what we call "the runners" - the list of staff working operationally that night.

There were three ambulances.
One led by a fantastic and experienced Advanced Emergency Medical Technician. Although more experienced than many paramedics - including myself - this person has a scope of practice without intravenous medications, or advanced life support.

Another was a "LAT" crew - Low Acuity Transport. Two clinical support members of staff who, when working together in this way, cannot respond to 999 emergencies with the exception of cardiac arrest, and even then can only provide basic life support. 1/2

They do important work like GP Admissions, Hospital Discharges, or convey patients to hospital who have been assessed over the phone as needing treatment in hospital but not requiring prehospital interventions.

Then there was me. The only ambulance in my city of over 300,000 people carrying a registered paramedic on it.
I'd been a paramedic for 3 months.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't useless - I worked in an advanced EMT role before I qualified, and I had completed a 4 year degree in paramedic science with some other relevant training before that. 1/2

And there's lots of help and support available to all of our staff over the phone when we need advice, a second opinion or some support. 2/2

But nonetheless. Three months.
What happens of course is that means that ambulances get pulled from other places nearby to cover the gaps. But then their areas are left short, and the problem doesn't go away, it's just spread around.

This isn't a dig at the service I work for - it's staffed and led by some of the most exceptional people I've ever been fortunate enough to meet. But all the ingenuity in the world, and all the adaptation and problem solving can't magic extra ambulances and staff out of thin air.

It was saturday night. Bars were full. Roads were busy. GP's were closed until monday, and the out of hours service was already stretched to capacity.
And for it's emergencies, my city had one paramedic.

These strikes are not about pay - at least not for me. I don't think we're paid fairly for the level of responsibility and difficulty our jobs entail at all grades of staff from entry level upwards. Not to mention the suffering and horrors we must occasionally witness first hand.

But for me, these strikes are about letting the government know that we know what they're doing. And we need to get their attention, and your attention, to bring these evils to light.

Our public health service - YOUR public health service, bought and paid for - is being intentionally crippled and starved and dehydrated to the point that if there isn't radical and significant change to the manner in which it is funded, supported and developed NOW, it will die.

You WILL end up paying for healthcare, if things go on as they are. And people that can't afford it - honestly, like my family and many of the families of my colleagues - will just get sicker and die younger.

Do you really want to return to a world where children in poor neighbourhoods die much more often because their parents can't afford basic medical care, like antibiotics and steroids?

That is exactly where our government is trying to take us, so that they and their rich mates can scoop up the profits from the suffering they're creating.

Please, I beg you - don't buy the lies you're going to hear in the media about "greedy ambulance workers" and "pay demands". Open your eyes and your ears to what we're really saying - that right now, our service is probably at the worst it has ever been.

And it's not because of us. We're keeping it afloat at the cost of our personal wellbeing each and every day. But we can't keep on pulling 60-70 hour weeks and nothing getting better or changing.

Our wages very often aren't enough to see us through until the end of the month, and even for those of us for whom they are, the conditions we're having to work in aren't worth what we're earning.

Imagine hearing these words blaring from your radio several times a shift:
OPEN CALL, OPEN CALL, ANY CREWS AVAILABLE TO COME CLEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING CATEGORY 1 EMERGENCY, CONFIRMED CARDIAC ARREST WITH CPR IN PROGRESS, CURRENT RUN TIME 24 MINUTES.

Or unwell child. Or suicide attempt. Or car crash. Or house fire. Or overdose. Or stabbing.
And as you're sitting there, knowing you have the skills and knowledge to prevent death and save lives in these circumstances, you can't do anything about it.

Because every single emergency ambulance from your station is stuck outside the hospital, waiting to hand over patients, with no indication that you'll be going inside any time soon.
This is really happening. Right now, probably. Every. Single. Day.

Things need to change. We as a nation need to start getting angry, not with each other, or with workers or staff or professionals - which is what they want by the way, and why the media stir up anger against these groups .

No, we need to start getting angry with the government. And the mess they have left us in, and are making us pay for, whilst most of them have no need to rely on the NHS because they are drowning in cash and can pay for private treatment the second they want it. #NHS #ambulance