I'm a volunteer Fire Fighter in NZ (past two years I've been doing it, kind of replaced playing footy for me) and am based at the busiest Fire Station in NZ. We are Fire and Emergency (so deal with everything from a cat in a tree, fires, crashes to suicides, medical issues and anything in between). One of the big issues is that when an ambo arrives and sees a patient, the ambo crew have to stay with the patient until they can hand over at the hossie, which can take hours and hours and then when the next medical call comes, they can't take it and we have to deal with it. I've spent my life working in IT and now have to deal with a multitude of medical stuff. The ambo staff just have to sit there and wait in the hostpital, doing nothing.
When my Dad came over at Xmas from the UK, he had a fall (80!) and went to A&E via ambo and the crew just waited with him, me and sis until handed over. They have friends who do the same role in the UK and its not uncommon for them to go and pick up a patient at the start of the shift, take them to hospital and spend the whole 8 hour shift, just sat with them. ITS RUBBISH!
Hope your mum is OK and gets some care and attention!
Previous Message
We should be rioting in the streets about the state of this. Good help us all.