Worked to Death

[Just Plain Ruff]

This lawsuit has a lot of traction - This is focusing on Nursing and the overworking of nurses in our hospitals but if the plaintiff's win, it's only a matter of time before an EMS agency is brought into the same type of lawsuit.

http://fox4kc.com/2013/11/13/lawsuit-ohio-nurse-was-worked-to-death/

I know that there were times at one service I worked that you would work a 24, then someone would call in and if you were on call you got mandatory Call in to work the next 24 and then you might just be scheduled to work the next 24 after that. Good possibility you would get 4-6 hours of sleep total for 72 hours. I lived it for 3 years.

This should have a lot of both hospitals and EMS systems looking at this.

[island emt]

yep In the past there were jobs that we had, where 18 - 22 hr days were common and would stack up for 6 or 7 days straight.

Several times had paychecks with 145+ hrs on them over the years.

used to drive the bean counters crazy,

then one week the companies owner was my assigned partner.

He put in 152 hrs that week and we never had another complaint from the office weenies about our overtime.

It was a major motor racing venue that turned a small town of 4500 citizens , into a sprawling metropolis of 125,000 + population for a week twice a year.

[paramedicmike]

I think it's Pennsylvania that has a law on the books that says nurses cannot be mandated to work overtime.

MTA: Here's the link: click me. There are some exceptions as would be expected.

Edited November 13, 2013 by paramedicmike

[uglyEMT]

It will be something to watch definitely. Especially with the Unions pushing for safe staffing level laws.

One thing that struck me in the article was that her supervisor stated the staffing was dangerously low to the parent company. If she actually did say that and its documented, oh boy this law suit doesn't just have legs and traction but teeth as well. I would not want to be in the parent company's law room

[Just Plain Ruff]

It will be something to watch definitely. Especially with the Unions pushing for safe staffing level laws.

One thing that struck me in the article was that her supervisor stated the staffing was dangerously low to the parent company. If she actually did say that and its documented, oh boy this law suit doesn't just have legs and traction but teeth as well. I would not want to be in the parent company's law room

And I would not want to be the person who told the parent company about that. Ill bet that person is not destined to be around for very much longer at the hospital. Some convenient way to get rid of them.

But yes, this lawsuit does indeed have traction and teeth I believe. That's why it's so important for all of our agencies and companies we work for to watch this. If they win then this opens up the floodgates to many lawsuits of the kind. How many people have fallen asleep when driving home after a mandated overtime shift? How many ambulance wrecks have been because of sleep deprivation.

I have long been a proponent of no more than working 12 hours a shift with at least 10 hours in between shifts. And night shifters should be given 12 hours in between shifts.

[uglyEMT]

And I would not want to be the person who told the parent company about that. Ill bet that person is not destined to be around for very much longer at the hospital. Some convenient way to get rid of them.

Didn't think of that at all. But hopefully labor laws will save the supervisor if and when she is "dismissed".

But yes, this lawsuit does indeed have traction and teeth I believe. That's why it's so important for all of our agencies and companies we work for to watch this. If they win then this opens up the floodgates to many lawsuits of the kind. How many people have fallen asleep when driving home after a mandated overtime shift? How many ambulance wrecks have been because of sleep deprivation.

I would say a lot. I know for myself after a few "doubles" the drive home was rather difficult. More than once I actually pulled over and grabbed some sleep on the side of the road. What some folks have to realize is that sleep depervation can actually effect you in the same ways as being drunk behind the wheel. I wish sometimes that scheduling officers actually realized these things.

As far as the lawsuit goes, if he wins, its not just our industry that this will affect but any industry that has shift work. Hopefully OSHA will chime in at this trial also.

I have long been a proponent of no more than working 12 hours a shift with at least 10 hours in between shifts. And night shifters should be given 12 hours in between shifts.

I think within our industry 12hrs max should be the standard. With what we see and deal with on a daily basis our minds need to have the break, would alleviate a lot of the burnout. One thing i would change is the 12hr for night folks to 24hrs. It has been noted that the body really needs 24hrs to change over sleep patterns. Ask some 3rd shifters about what happens on the weekends if they have off. I know for myself I actually needed to set alarms to wake up at different times(earlier and earlier) so that I wasn't sleeping the entire day away.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I think within our industry 12hrs max should be the standard. With what we see and deal with on a daily basis our minds need to have the break, would alleviate a lot of the burnout. One thing i would change is the 12hr for night folks to 24hrs. It has been noted that the body really needs 24hrs to change over sleep patterns. Ask some 3rd shifters about what happens on the weekends if they have off. I know for myself I actually needed to set alarms to wake up at different times(earlier and earlier) so that I wasn't sleeping the entire day away.

What about the police officers who work 4 months as day shift, then switch to evening shift for 4 months and then switch again to night shift for 4 months. I know of some departments that do that.