Staff Abuse & Media Partiallity
I saw a story done by the BBC about a women who died from a heart attack whilst a nearby member of ambulance staff was on their break. It reminded my off similar statements which I've seen on Tom's Blog, links to both at the end of this post.
What annoyed me about the BBC report was that I was left ondering just how much information the ambulance technician had. I'm of the firm belief that anyone working in such a job would respond to a heart attack a matter of a few hundred yards from where they were having their break. But did they have that information or where they only aware that control would like them to end their break early?
If you believe the BBC then this man was in full possecion of the facts before deciding not to respond. Where as if you look at the comments about the numerous similar situations on Tom's blog then you'd believe that he had no information. Since the blog is from the perspective of a front line staff member (albeit in a different ambulance service) Im more inclined to believe that he was unaware of what the call was, in which case the fact that he's the one being paraded for the media to hound is nothing short of staff abuse.
Update 31st Jan 2011:
I read in a paper at work over the weekend (I forget which one) that apparently the technician concerned was unaware of the call and was not asked to attend a call. Make you wonder at the management in the Scottish Ambulance Service doesn't it?