2023-12-11 19:20:47
Paramedics arrived at the Urgences-santé offices on Monday to protest once morest the new ministerial protocols put in place.
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This stunt was intended to challenge a new directive due to come into force tomorrow and according to which employees, even once their shift is over, will be considered available to respond to priority 0 calls throughout their journey between the hospital center and the garage where they must park their ambulance.
“The worst insult”
For many ambulance drivers in Laval and Montreal, this new measure is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, with some even announcing that they want to reorient themselves professionally.
“The workload is already at its maximum. It’s been like this for several years. We already have to endure meal breaks which are cut to 30 minutes, or simply not given. […] And there, the straw that breaks the camel’s back is not knowing when we are going to end our shifts,” explains Claude Lamarche, president of the Prehospital Union (SP-CSN).
“It is, I would tell you, the worst insult of the last forty years, because in Montreal, it never existed. When we are finished, we are deemed to have finished,” adds Mr. Lamarche, who fears the effects that this new measure will have on the family-work balance of employees.
Urgences-santé, for its part, assures that it has the well-being of its employees at heart and that the new measure will not be used lightly.
“We need our staff. For us, it’s gold in a bar, and we’re going to take care of it as much as possible. We are currently dealing with external labor to come and fill our shifts, so we definitely don’t want them to leave,” says the spokesperson for Emergencies. -health Stéphane Smith.
“Now, we are applying this directive… we have a request to apply it, we are going to apply it. After that, if we can do everything to keep our employees, that’s what we’ll do for sure,” he adds.
For all the details, listen to the video at the beginning of the article.
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