I was on a 72 hour shift (from 6am friday morning to 6am monday morning),and was sleeping in the back of the unit (cuz it was comfortable),and I thought I heard our service's tones go out,so I got up and jumped out the back of the unit and jumped in the cab,started it up,and pulled it out. The minute I got the unit out on the curtain I radioed to county dispatch advising them that I was clear on the call and in service. They radioed back and advised they were not aware of any call for us,so I acknowledged them and pulled the unit back into the bay and went to the department radio room and phoned in to dispatch and advised them of what happened,and you would not believe how blushed I was,I was so embarrassed,and with the fire chief right across the road,he heard the unit get pulled out and the radio traffic. So I went back to bed and the next morning,the chief came over and asked if we had a call and I explained to him what happened,he got a kick out of it,and so did I,just alil though.
Error On Overnight Shift
- Thread starter mfrjason
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I once worked a night shift with far too little sleep. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I would absolutely not do it in the future.
My roomates in college always found it funny to wake me in a moment of terror. They'd shake me, I'd jump out of bed, run frantically in my sleep, and sometimes even get out the door before I woke up. I've even gotten into a car while asleep. Only when I started the engine did I start to question why I was in my car.
It happens to the best of us
My roomates in college always found it funny to wake me in a moment of terror. They'd shake me, I'd jump out of bed, run frantically in my sleep, and sometimes even get out the door before I woke up. I've even gotten into a car while asleep. Only when I started the engine did I start to question why I was in my car.
It happens to the best of us
Tincanfireman
Airfield Operations
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Man, you have joined a club that involves most of us sooner or later.
KEVD18
Forum Deputy Chief
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while that exact sit has never happened to me several along similar have:
once, after a ballbusting day(13 calls in 12hrs), me and my partner were using some down time to catch some z's. i was startled awake by some noise. i sat up and was staring at the coffee table. i asked aloud " what the hell is that noise" to which my prtner responded "answer the phucking phone a$$hole"
when toned in the middle of the night one shift, i answered the call, put my gear on(as did my partner) got down to the unit and couldnt remember where we were going(had to ask ops on the air)
once, after a ballbusting day(13 calls in 12hrs), me and my partner were using some down time to catch some z's. i was startled awake by some noise. i sat up and was staring at the coffee table. i asked aloud " what the hell is that noise" to which my prtner responded "answer the phucking phone a$$hole"
when toned in the middle of the night one shift, i answered the call, put my gear on(as did my partner) got down to the unit and couldnt remember where we were going(had to ask ops on the air)
Ive done that before,lol. One time myself,and two other ambulance personnel,1 was my on-duty partner and the other was an EMT for our service but was on duty for a neighboring service were sitting at the local truck stop enjoyin some lunch when a call went out for a subject having chest pains,but we didnt catch the location,well county toned it out again and come to find out the call was to the truck lot at the truck stop we were at,and since I didnt have my own POV at the time,I had the department ambulance with me,so we all ran out of the truck stop and headed to where the patient was. Talk about bein at the right place at the right time,but since the truck stop was in the neighboring service's service area,we had to wait for there ambulance.
BossyCow
Forum Deputy Chief
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I actually had a patient ask if we could drop her boyfriend off at work on the way to the ER because their car was busted and he was late for work.
KEVD18
Forum Deputy Chief
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we had a frequent 911 caller. she would call all the time, every time with a new complaint. always requested the same hospital, across town nad bypassing 3 recieving hospital on the way. come to find out her baby daddy lives across the street from the requested facility. she would be wheeled in the back and make a beeline fro the front door. free ride across the city.
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Wow... I've done that a few times. One of the things I HATE about working overnights and sleeping is that I get up, get dressed, and get to the ambulance and really have no idea what the dispatch was that woke me, because I wasn't awake enough to understand it.
Even better is when I've slept through the first alert and woken up at the 4-minute re-alert... I got up and was pulling my pants on when my cellphone rang... my partner, "Sparky", was calling me... he asked "what the :censored::censored::censored::censored: was taking me so long" I said that the tones had just gone off.. he said "that was second tap!" I told him I was up and on my way down... and to put us enroute. Come to think of it, I NEVER get much sleep when I run with Sparky.
As for 24 hour+ shifts:
Why do we torture ourselves with these rediculously long shifts. Truck drivers aren't alowed to work more than X hours before they must habve 8 hours "off" but EMS is allowed to work 24, 48, 72 straight hours, where we can go for 24+ hours without sleep. We aren't Jack Bauer... we aren't Superman.
I've seen too many deaths in recent years from EMS providers who die drving home from work after 24+ hour shifts. I've been on a 32 hour shift before and almost fell asleep at the wheel of an ambulance while doing a long distance transport. I had to pull over and switch with my partner for the last 15 miles of the ride, because I wanted to get their safely.
Even better is when I've slept through the first alert and woken up at the 4-minute re-alert... I got up and was pulling my pants on when my cellphone rang... my partner, "Sparky", was calling me... he asked "what the :censored::censored::censored::censored: was taking me so long" I said that the tones had just gone off.. he said "that was second tap!" I told him I was up and on my way down... and to put us enroute. Come to think of it, I NEVER get much sleep when I run with Sparky.
As for 24 hour+ shifts:
Why do we torture ourselves with these rediculously long shifts. Truck drivers aren't alowed to work more than X hours before they must habve 8 hours "off" but EMS is allowed to work 24, 48, 72 straight hours, where we can go for 24+ hours without sleep. We aren't Jack Bauer... we aren't Superman.
I've seen too many deaths in recent years from EMS providers who die drving home from work after 24+ hour shifts. I've been on a 32 hour shift before and almost fell asleep at the wheel of an ambulance while doing a long distance transport. I had to pull over and switch with my partner for the last 15 miles of the ride, because I wanted to get their safely.
KEVD18
Forum Deputy Chief
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i work 2 24's. i do it because i only work 8 days a month. plenty of time for school and what not..
Medic's Wife
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I completely agree. My hubby's service is an hour from where we live, and when he has a sleepless night, he crashes for a few hours before he even tries to make it home. Then sometimes he only makes it with the help of some caffein pills. It's very scary.
On a funny note....hubby's ambulance service is short staffed right now, so he's covering a lot of extra shifts. His week sometimes looks like 24 on, 24 off, 48 on, 24 off, 12 on, 24 on......you get the idea....
Anyhow, he was on one of his long shifts and they had a ton of calls overnight, and he and his partner were getting slap happy. There is a local restraunt where they work called Hunts. Well, in their goofy, sleep deprived state, they start calling it C*nts. Unfortunately, they also transported a patient that night who's last name was Hunt, and hubby inadvertantly replaced the H with a C on her paperwork. LMAO......
OMG! Hope there was no offense taken to that? I would feel embarrassed.
Medic's Wife
Forum Crew Member
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He caught his mistake before it was too late.....he said he had a helluva time trying to make a C look like an H though 
A little history lesson;
In the 70s and 80s, most ambulance services required only one certified person on the unit. The Teamsters union attempted to organize the "ambulance drivers" in a few States. It seemed like a great idea until the drivers learned they would have to operate under trucker standard of rest. Most of the drivers at that time made their money by long, long shifts.
Also, many of the ambulance services contracted their ambulances out like cabs. To break even, they had to keep the trucks running. There was driving at reckless speeds and call jumping to get that patient from rescue before the other company.
Once EMS workers get recognized as a profession by national standards, the long shifts will cease. This may actually be met with resistance from many in the field. The 24 hour shift has become a standard with many EMS companies.
Only in rare circumstances can a hospital employee work more than 16 hours. Then there must be 8 hours between shifts.
Maggie's Law
http://www.njsendems.com/Releases/03/August/Sweeney%20Maggie's%20Law%20Becomes%20Official,%208-5-03.htm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/481189
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic835.htm
In the 70s and 80s, most ambulance services required only one certified person on the unit. The Teamsters union attempted to organize the "ambulance drivers" in a few States. It seemed like a great idea until the drivers learned they would have to operate under trucker standard of rest. Most of the drivers at that time made their money by long, long shifts.
Also, many of the ambulance services contracted their ambulances out like cabs. To break even, they had to keep the trucks running. There was driving at reckless speeds and call jumping to get that patient from rescue before the other company.
Once EMS workers get recognized as a profession by national standards, the long shifts will cease. This may actually be met with resistance from many in the field. The 24 hour shift has become a standard with many EMS companies.
Only in rare circumstances can a hospital employee work more than 16 hours. Then there must be 8 hours between shifts.
Maggie's Law
http://www.njsendems.com/Releases/03/August/Sweeney%20Maggie's%20Law%20Becomes%20Official,%208-5-03.htm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/481189
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic835.htm
fm_emt
Useless without caffeine
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Yeah, 24 hour shifts are silly. I don't see any reason why we can't break that up into 2 x 12 hour shifts. At least AMR does that around here.
Epi-do
I see dead people
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I absolutely love working 24's! Since I am only working 2 days a week, it gives me more time at home with my son and husband.
Recycled Words
Forum Crew Member
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I pulled two consecutive overnights where we got quite a few calls. Both were weekday shifts, so I went stright to school after each. Well, after the second, I was pretty damn tired. I fell asleep in the lounge on one of the floors and one of the elevators got stuck. When that happens, it sounds a lot like the phone at my corps for when calls come in, just a bit softer. Sleep-deprived as I was, I jumped up, threw my shoes on and asked what the call was before I hit my head on the ledge and woke up. Bit humiliating, bound to happen again.
Ridryder911
EMS Guru
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The reason I went back into EMS was because of the 24 hour shifts, personally I will never work a 12 hr truck. We are busy, not too busy though to be harmful. Working only 10 days a month allows me time off and if I want to work part time.
Personally, doing 12 hrs. are a pain for me. Getting off work too late to perform personal business, just in time to get home and go to bed and time enough to get up again to repeat.
I thought it would be great to have a 8 hr work day, like the "norm", but when I was in research I soon found out weekends were too short to have the only time off to get business and have fun...
There is only one EMS I know of in my state that has an 8 hr truck, most have 24 hr shifts, except larger metro areas such as Tulsa and OKC.
R/r 911
Personally, doing 12 hrs. are a pain for me. Getting off work too late to perform personal business, just in time to get home and go to bed and time enough to get up again to repeat.
I thought it would be great to have a 8 hr work day, like the "norm", but when I was in research I soon found out weekends were too short to have the only time off to get business and have fun...
There is only one EMS I know of in my state that has an 8 hr truck, most have 24 hr shifts, except larger metro areas such as Tulsa and OKC.
R/r 911