{"id":14203,"date":"2017-12-20T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14203"},"modified":"2017-12-19T16:00:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-19T16:00:30","slug":"14203-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14203","title":{"rendered":"‘Try your best to enjoy Christmas Day’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In part 3 of our series on working over Christmas, we speak to Paul McQuade, a dedicated ambulance worker who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worked for the ambulance service for nearly three decades, and as a paramedic for the last 16 years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s among the more than one million workers who give up time with family and friends over the holidays to be the first port of call in an emergency. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been working over Christmas for the last eight years \u00e2\u20ac\u201c except for one year when he was ill, next year will be his first Christmas off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The stress inherent in his job goes without saying \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Paul must interact with patients and their friends and family when they are at their lowest point physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If for example he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s called to a road accident, he must tend to people whose lives may very well be at risk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou have to make split second decisions that could really mean the difference between life and death,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Paul explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou have to interact and work closely with police and fire crew.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, despite the stress, Paul enjoys the work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can say I am one of those people who actually loves their job,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a single day that goes by at work that is the same as the next.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Working over Christmas, Paul explains, can be different from other times of the year when he works.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn many ways, it really is a sad day because we find lots of people who are out on their own when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re called out,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he notes. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll speak with relatives who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see their loved ones all year then they have to deal with an emergency or tragedy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThen on the opposite end you tend to people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been out enjoying themselves \u00e2\u20ac\u201c often enjoying themselves a bit too much.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While Paul says he has certainly missed out on the many years he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had to work over Christmas, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten used to it and spends time with friends and family on other days during the festive period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that people acknowledge and pay tribute to all the workers who put their lives on hold to make sure everyone can enjoy a safe and happy Christmas,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Paul says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He urges all Unite members to enjoy the festive period and stay safe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo matter what you might be doing on Christmas day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working \u00e2\u20ac\u201c try your best to enjoy it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This feature first appeared in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s members magazine <\/em>uniteWORKS. You can read the latest edition on the Unite website here<\/a>. Or as a Unite member you can receive a print or digital copy by changing your membership records through My Unite or by contacting your local regional office regional membership admin team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In part 3 of our series on working over Christmas, we speak to Paul McQuade, a dedicated ambulance worker who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worked for the ambulance service for nearly three decades, and as a paramedic for the last 16 years.   He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s among the more than one million workers who give up time with family and friends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[161,648,29],"wps_subtitle":"Ambulance worker Paul McQuade stays positive ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14220,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14203\/revisions\/14220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}