legal ramifications

[spenac]

A deciding factor that should come in to play in a companys deciding how many hours to allow crews to work is there a reasonable expectation of getting plenty of rest to stay sharp. In a busy service 8 hours may be to much. In other areas 14 straight 24's could be no problem. So I am against blanket rules, laws, etc setting a maximum.

Legally whose fault is it if a mistake occurs? The one that makes the mistake. A person stays out all night having fun with friends and then comes in to do an 8 hour shift and screws up in my personal opinion is much more responsible for the mistake though than someone who makes a mistake at the end of a non stop 24 hour shift. Why? Because work caused the fatigue in the latter. The persons stupidity in the 8 hour worker caused the mistake and they should in my opinion as a juror should get harsher punishment.

[rock_shoes]

We are allowed a maximum of 16 working hours. That however does not include time spent on standby (at the station) or on pager for the rural lower call volume areas. In the rural areas standby and pager time are counted as hours of rest because employees can sleep during that time. If someone "times out" (has spent 16 hours working on car in the last 24 hours) they must be off car for a minimum of 8 hours before they can go back on duty.

[VentMedic]

Article from Missouri Emergency Medical Association:

Sleep Deprivation Study Details Effects of Shiftwork in EMS

By W. Ann Maggiore

EMS and the Law

http://www.memsa.org/content/view/69/50/

Article referred to in that article:

http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/arti...42E76708F8EFFED

Results of National Study on Responder Sleep Deprivation Released

IAFC & USFA release report on effects in EMS

JEMS.com Staff

2007 Sept 25

Links to more articles are in that article.

[crazyemt5150]

As for me I have been working at a 24 hr station for about a year now and its not a slow station. The way we work is our main station is in bakersfield that has levels. If the level drops below level 2 which is 2 units we get called in cause we are the closest unit that can come into metro to help out levels. There has been many shifts where we run 24rs strait. I have thought of the same questions myself and have been told by my supervisor that if I am to tired to drive I can go home, which is bull crud. So I wish i could help but I feel your pain