EMT-Driver (No Breaks?)(No Eating while Driving?)

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Vanenix

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There is a company that I start working that we are only allowed to take breaks while posting. The problem is what if they let us work for more than 12 hours without posting because it is a busy day, and we as a EMT-Drivers (except EMT-Attendants) have no time to eat our lunch and dinner. We drive 65-70 miles per hour on the freeway and dealing with huge traffic in downtown LA. Plus our company warned us that it is not safe to eat while driving. And so, I did not eat the whole day from 9am-10pm. On the last hour of my work, I start getting exhausted due to hunger and 11 hours of work. Then, my boss got mad at me and saying that I was crappy driving on my last hour and he warned me that he will fire me if I do not fix my driving job. I told him that I did not have time to eat lunch nor dinner and he told me that I am getting paid so I need to work my *** out. This is the first time I've worked in a company that let us work for 12 hours and they did not give us a specific time of break. I just got out from work and my stomach is hurting so bad. I am afraid having an ulcer on this job which is not healthy.
 
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It's pretty standard to not have any specific time off. Of course, on the plus side you don't take 2 30 minute unpaid breaks which gets you an hour and a half more pay (time and a half). Yes, it's common to snack while driving, and yes, where I worked we generally make time to eat when need be. However, when/where I worked (which was Saturday/Sunday), there was generally plenty of time to eat. A big tip for getting food is if you're at a hospital, grab a bite prior to clearing. Of course if you're actually riding with your boss, it might not work. Try talking
 
Is this IFT or 911? You have a few options.

1. There are foods you can easily eat while driving. CLIF bars, other types of protein bars (the Kashi go lean ones are delicious), granola bars, bananas, spring rolls, well-wrapped burritos, dried fruit, carrots. It may not be the favorite food and this is not the best solution, but you do not have to go 12 hours without eating.

2. If this is IFT and you are working 12 hour days without scheduled breaks, make your own breaks. Take two minutes and eat something when you arrive at a facility. Do you ever work with smokers? I frequently will have a bite to eat when they are on their self-assigned smoke breaks. Or you can stop by a gas station or fast food restaurant that's on the way to a facility.

3. Eat when you're stuck in traffic and going 10 mph or at a red light.

4. File a complaint with the labour board.
 
Oh my god Brown cannot believe what he is hearing, these labour practices are disgusting and how in the hell can any of you advocate eating while driving? Are you insane?

Sorry Your Honour for crashing into that school bus full of children and nuns who were on the way to sing at the old people's home .... I spilt burning sauce from my burrito on my pants and was trying to get it off.
 
MrBrown said:
Oh my god Brown cannot believe what he is hearing, these labour practices are disgusting and how in the hell can any of you advocate eating while driving? Are you insane?

Sorry Your Honour for crashing into that school bus full of children and nuns who were on the way to sing at the old people's home .... I spilt burning sauce from my burrito on my pants and was trying to get it off.
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I personally, never found driving an ambulance particularly difficult. Actually, I have never found driving particularly difficult either, and my 9+ years of driving without either a ticket (that stuck, 1 where I was ruled "not responsible") or accidents (at fault or otherwise) speaks for itself. After all, we're not talking about eating steak and mashed potatoes here.
 
I don't see what the big deal is...

You're paid your entire shift, because you are open to take calls your entire shift. Pack a lunch and eat between calls. I have never gone to work expecting to get posted for 30 minutes allowing me to sit buy and/or sit down for lunch. Plan on buying a lunch at your own risk.

When you finish a call, grab a few bites of your sandwich,chips, what-ever-the-hell you packed for the day, then clear from the call. Basically what JPINFV said. Eating a little food after every call will easily get you through the day. Not to mention if you aren't driving to the next call you can snack on the way to it.
 
MrBrown said:
Oh my god Brown cannot believe what he is hearing, these labour practices are disgusting and how in the hell can any of you advocate eating while driving? Are you insane?

Sorry Your Honour for crashing into that school bus full of children and nuns who were on the way to sing at the old people's home .... I spilt burning sauce from my burrito on my pants and was trying to get it off.
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I don't put sauce in burritos if I am going to eat them while driving. Tortillas wrapped around beans don't make a mess, and neither does anything else I listed as a suggestion.

And obviously it involves a bit of common sense. I don't eat on the interstate or on rural country roads, but if I'm going 25 mph down a straight road or idling up to a red light, I'm not going to crash if I use one hand to lift a protein bar to my mouth, sheesh.

But yes, those labor practices are illegal, hence number four.


SanDiegoEmt7 said:
I don't see what the big deal is...

You're paid your entire shift, because you are open to take calls your entire shift. Pack a lunch and eat between calls. I have never gone to work expecting to get posted for 30 minutes allowing me to sit buy and/or sit down for lunch. Plan on buying a lunch at your own risk.

When you finish a call, grab a few bites of your sandwich,chips, what-ever-the-hell you packed for the day, then clear from the call. Basically what JPINFV said. Eating a little food after every call will easily get you through the day. Not to mention if you aren't driving to the next call you can snack on the way to it.
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I'm assuming you're working in San Diego so you're under the same labour law as the OP, a labour law that requires the employer to give a meal break during a 12 hour shift unless the employee wants to waive it. I don't know why so many ambulance companies think the labour law doesn't apply to them, or why so many EMTs don't care about it.
 
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Aerin-Sol said:
I'm assuming you're working in San Diego so you're under the same labour law as the OP, a labour law that requires the employer to give a meal break during a 12 hour shift unless the employee wants to waive it. I don't know why so many ambulance companies think the labour law doesn't apply to them, or why so many EMTs don't care about it.
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I no longer work in SD, but I am aware of the law. The company I worked for was not shady and made those labor provisions known to us. Even with our dispatchers mandated to provide breaks as possible, sometimes it doesn't/can't happen. It was a balance. Technically they could clock you out for the lunch period provided under labor laws. They paid us through all of our breaks as a compromise for the days when we didn't get a break.
 
Aerin-Sol said:
I'm assuming you're working in San Diego so you're under the same labour law as the OP, a labour law that requires the employer to give a meal break during a 12 hour shift unless the employee wants to waive it. I don't know why so many ambulance companies think the labour law doesn't apply to them, or why so many EMTs don't care about it.
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Yes, it is by mutual consent, however it's a short leap from "revoking paid on-duty breaks" to "unable to meet the standards required." However, a break is still required to be given or the employee is supposed to be paid an extra hour of work.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_MealPeriods.htm

In terms of IWC orders, the only thing that would apply to EMS is 24 hour crews can consent to being paid overtime after 40 hours/week instead of time and a half after 8 and double time after 12. I do wonder, though, if for paramedics making over twice the minimum wage if any companies have tried classifying the position as being exempt under a professional designation.
 
I am having hard time believing that you do not have downtime during the 12 hours of your shift. Were you working this shift with your boss and as such were the one always driving? Something is not adding up.
 
looker said:
Good luck with that, nothing will happen. An ambulance crew always has down time between calls, transports etc unless WWIII starts in which case you will just have to deal with it.
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I had a few shifts where there was no actual downtime, however those were the exception, not the rule, as well as days where my partner and I hit a groove and ended up being into hour 8 or 10 before we even realized that we didn't have a chance to eat. Every other time, there were ways, sometimes creatively (especially if there's 2 keys to the unit), to grab a quick order of food.
 
Sounds like you're possibly working with the boss? This is a little tougher to deal with, but when you're not working with him, just pack your lunch and eat it before you clear up from a call, or before you go get your next patient in the facility or whatever.

It's pretty easy to grab 10 or 15 minutes a couple of times a day just sitting in the truck waiting to go in until after you've had a break.
 
sounds like you need to pack a lunch bro.

protein bars- i bring two for every shift in case I dont get a chance to eat the following or if everything else is not enough
fruit- bananas, apples, maybe a pear
nuts- almonds or GORP
a sandwich or two
plenty of water to wash it all down

one county I work in it is almost common practice to get a meal to go at the beginning of the shift, we go 10-8 and hit a Panda, Taquiria, or something on our way to post. and, as others said, you can always shave a few minutes off when you clear.
 
beano said:
one county I work in it is almost common practice to get a meal to go at the beginning of the shift, we go 10-8 and hit a Panda, Taquiria, or something on our way to post. and, as others said, you can always shave a few minutes off when you clear.
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Arbys 5 for $5 deal!
 
You can always ask your partner to drive if you want to eat. If I get something at a hospital or food stand many of the people I work with offer to drive so I can get some food in my stomach.

Also, Im not sure how strict your company is with times but if we are at one of the large hospital complexes for a transport we will mark on scene and try and scarf something down in a few minutes.
 
Hey Brown, it's funny I was listening to EMS Garage and there was a Kiwi saying about what you've said about food in this thread :p Odd coincidink
 
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If it's an IFT company, they are truly bottom of the barrel if they don't give you at least 30 minutes to eat ever (there are exception days) or run you for 12 hours straight. The IFT 12 hour shifts I have worked generally ran 3-6 calls a day.
 
Park the thing, I doubt they will close down if you take 15 mins to eat your lunch.
 
CAOX3 said:
Park the thing, I doubt they will close down if you take 15 mins to eat your lunch.
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Park the thing? If you take lunch at my company with out asking dispatch first you will get warning the first time, the second time you're walking. How does dispatch knows that you parked it? It's very simple, all trucks are tracked by gps.
 
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