You go to the run or you can, or most likely will be fired. My fellow crew members had to lie to dispatch by saying they were enroute to the run but in reality enroute to a restaurant, just to eat. You have no control.
I'd fire them too for lying to dispatch, especially if they said they were enroute to a run but going to a restaurant to eat. As a former dispatcher, I have 0 issues with crews getting food, but when you start lying and falsifying your documentation, and then I, as the dispatcher, need to justify why you are late to the facility, well, covering up certain things are not the way to do it.
Why didn't they bring their food with them (IE, brown bag it)? Are they legit that busy that they had 0 downtime, for the entire duration of their shift? or just not during a convenient time for them?
If you are getting runs dropped on you when you are still on a run, that's an issue, because you can only handle one run at a time. But if you are hanging out at the facility, flirting with a nurse, or taking a break, because you know once you call clear you have another run, that's an issue. Whether you realize it or not (and it seems that many people don't understand this),
you are paid an hourly wage to work, to go on runs, and to generate revenue for the company.
That all being said, If you want to push for fatigue limits though legislative action, go for it. I think that running 24 hours straight is dangerously unsafe, and think that any EMS director that allows it to happen on a regular basis should be criminally charged with negligence. And I also think that if enough providers refused to work 24 hour shifts, agencies would change their schedule to 12s or 8s.
However, we all know providers that prefer 24 hour shifts, or will work a double 12 hour shift for OT. Are you speaking for them too? Do you know providers who accepted a job (or applied for the job because they only wanted to work 24s) knowing it was for a 24/48 or 24/72 hour schedule? Or do you know people who will work a 12 hour shift at their FT job, and then go directly to their PT job? Are you going to make that act illegal, and what will the consequences be? For every provider that is fighting for shorter shifts, there are 3 or 4 that are willing to work 24s, willing to pick up OT on a double, or are going from one job to the next.
If you don't feel like you are given the proper amount of breaks, file a complaint with the department of labor and have them investigate and determine if what management is doing is legal; trust me, they love fighting for the little guy when they are taken advantage of.
If yours are that bad, quit and work elsewhere. Or even better, transfer into dispatch (I feel like I've suggested this to you before), so you can show them how it's supposed to be.
I've been in dispatch, on both the 911 and IFT side. on the IFT side, if you call me and ask for a break to get some food, assuming a previous dispatcher didn't screw you with scheduling, I will do what I can to give you 20 minutes to grab a bite, because the schedule can sometimes be massaged a little bit. if you are on a 911 truck, it's luck of the draw, and if you are closer to the job, your getting it (but if you say you need a break, sometimes I can hold you last out).
Dispatchers are often doing what management tells them to do, so instead of blaming the dispatcher, why not address it with management? And if management is that bad, quit and work elsewhere.
