Walking a Very Thin Line.

The vast majority of our EMD and EMCT staff are licensed Primary Care Paramedics.  All of our staff are Cupe 873 members.  We believe as all our members do that our ambulance service is “a system in peril”  (saveourparamedics.com).  Our short staffing (which, understandably, is also a Nationwide problem) and haphazard coverage in some of British Columbia’s smaller towns can create some uneccesary delays in patient care.  We desperately need a good contract so we can all get back to our busines.

We see Management on an regular basis in the Dispatch Centre due to our proximity to regional headquarters.  They stop by to check in, ask questions or just observe.  On any given day, there are as many or more Management staff within 200 feet of our office than we have EMD/EMCT staff on duty.

Don’t get me wrong.  Without exception, the management we deal with on a day to day basis are very respectful of the Dispatch staff.  There is, however, always going to be that niggling deep down inside feeling that we are being watched.

On the other side we have our Union brothers and sisters on the street; all out looking for the same outcome.  The dispatch centre has responsibility to look out for them and the work they are doing while keeping up the strike plan outlined by our union executive.

This is where it gets dicey.  As an example, part of the strike plan was ”Crew members are not to do vehicle exchanges”.  In the dispatch centre, a manager directs me to ask a crew to switch into a spare vehicle.  I do as I am directed and am called by a strike coordinator asking me why I am directing crews to go against union direction.  Wow!  All I’ve done is as I was directed.  The crews can say no, call the manager in question or call their strike coordinator to ask for direction, but to call me out as going against union direction makes me feel like I’m caught in the middle more than I already am.

The Essential Services Order (ESO) from the Labour Relations Board (LRB) is pretty specific when it comes to following the direction of the employer.  Cupe 873 is seems to be focusing more on what we can’t do and less on what we could do.

I think it’s about time we started to get a little bit more creative in our job action.  We need the media and the public behind us which doesn’t seem to be the outcome of the road the union executive have put us on.  We need to show the public we are unhappy, without giving the impression that we aren’t still looking out for their safety.  We need to have journalists riding along with us to see how busy we are and how dangerous it can be on the streets.

This is destined to be one of those long and drawn out battles that no one will win.  The dynamic between managment and the union AND the dynamic between some of the members within the union will never be the same.  Hopefully we end up winning more than we have lost.

Where is the ambulance?

Like all kids, my brothers and I regularly bugged our parents for stuff while growing up.  We couldn’t figure out why instant gratification wasn’t ours.  Whether it be for a toy, a milkshake or simply some money to go to the corner store, the answer was always the same:  “Money doesn’t grow on trees.”  That statement inevitably conjured images of a money tree growing in the back yard; a white glow surrounding the branches with the money leaves glimmering magically with light from an unidentified source.  My younger brother would most likely break my trance with a tantrum soon after.  As most kids do, with the vision over, we would move on.

I see a similar pattern at work.  People do not understand why there isn’t an ambulance waiting on every corner ready to pounce from the trees onto the next emergency.  They need an ambulance and why isn’t it already there?  Doesn’t the ambulance fairy know?  I’ve tried bibbity, bobbity, boo, but it hasn’t worked so far.

I’m being overly dramatic.  But am I?  Medical emergencies seem to cause a change in brain chemistry – no matter who it is that is having the emergency.

Our latest job action has made this situation worse.  Some paramedics have taken to putting large “ON STRIKE” stickers on the sides of the ambulance.  Delays chalked up to call volume 6 months ago are now, in the eyes of the public, due to a perceived refusal to attend - seemingly job action related. 

If you read this blog (and I know at least 4 people do), get the word out.  We have issues with the employer, not the public.  We became paramedics, EMDs and EMCTs to help the people of our communities.  Up until now, that help has been at the expense of our families and ourselves.  The hope for job action outcome is that we can have a healthy family and community while being compensated appropriately.

Who Are We Punishing – A Tale of AVL

Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) was adopted by BCAS a short time ago.  In broad terms, AVL is a system by which a cel phone type arangement using GPS signals sends information to our CAD system showing a live version of where all our ambulances are.  It is a great help for confirming who is the closest car to a call, assuring callers that an ambulance isn’t far away from them and, heaven forbid, finding an ambulance that’s been involved in an accident on a far away, dark country road.

Several of our fellow paramedics find it necessary to unplug the power cord to their AVL modem in the ambulance.  Aside from the obvious safety implications here, what are they proving?

I think it’s not well known how the data for AVL is managed.  In the dispatch centre, we know pretty quickly who’s AVL is not functioning and who’s is functioning fine.  We can see the little blips a moving vehicle displays and we can see a stationary unit that should be moving.  This is easy peasy but often not reported due to the EMD being too busy to notice or having bigger fish to fry.  The system ‘polls’ each unit on a scheduled basis either by time or distance depending on the status of the unit.  Every time a unit is polled, the data is logged.  EVERY TIME IT’S POLLED! 

These logs are for record keeping in our eyes and of no concern to the dispatch centre.  Management on the other hand, has the ability to easily sift through the log and look for patterns.  They can play a route taken by a particular unit last week as simply as you can watch a video of your trip to Mexico on your iPod.  They can tell who seems to have a problem keeping their modem plugged in and who doesn’t

I implore crew members:  Stop playing with the AVL unit.  It’s in your best interests.  I promise.