{"id":21045,"date":"2020-04-27T12:25:03","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T11:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=21045"},"modified":"2020-04-27T14:41:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T13:41:29","slug":"everything-is-jam-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=21045","title":{"rendered":"‘Everything is jam tomorrow’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPressures on our ambulance members are unprecedented with the profession not currently being given the correct guidance as to whom they should take to hospital,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, national officer for health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are also not being given the correct level of personal protective equipment (PPE) if they suspect a patient has Covid-19.  Ambulance workers are putting their health, perhaps their lives, at risk, by not receiving the correct PPE and also by not receiving the correct fit test training to wear the PPE,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report by the Telegraph<\/a> manufacturers and textile companies say vital personal protective equipment (PPE) are being loaded into lorries and shipped to Germany, Spain and Italy, despite crippling shortages for our NHS workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade unions have called for an independent inquiry into the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s handling of the PPE crisis. It is thought a lack of PPE has contributed to the deaths of over 100 health and care staff so far in the battle against Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stark and very serious<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOn top of this, the lack of testing remains a stark and very serious issue \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there are not enough tests to ensure ambulance staff are tested within the five-day window for testing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jarrett-Thorpe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is urgently calling for ambulance workers to be given clear guidance regarding triaging which patients should be taken to hospital and more action on PPE which needs to be supplied to paramedics, so they are able to do their essential duties,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"This
Debbie Wilkinson <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Debbie Wilkinson is a paramedic with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Chair of Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national ambulance committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEverything is jam tomorrow. It will come but next week. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also huge difference in levels of PPE between different trusts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Wilkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThree to four weeks ago we were only seeing the odd case of Covid-19. Now almost every case we are called to is Covid,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure on paramedics is insurmountable. There are staff shortages where Covid has wiped out numbers of staff and less support where managers and supervisors have had to go back out on the road as paramedics to make up these shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn my trust about 35 per cent of staff are self-isolating because either they or a family member have symptoms. If we were doing more testing it would get these people back out on the road quicker and relieve a lot of pressure,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Wilkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bGetting people back to work quicker should be a priority,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life and death decisions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paramedics are having to make life and death decisions. They are the first health care professional to assess patients and they must immediately decide whether the patient is likely to be Covid-19 positive before they begin any treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bParamedics are terrified of making the wrong call and being sanctioned for this. Even having to decide which level of PPE to put on is stressful,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Wilkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sudden death rate is the highest it has been in more than 20 years. Possibly because people are not seeking medical attention as quickly because of fear of over burdening the health service during this pandemic or fear of contracting the virus by attending a hospital or practice surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis virus is like nothing else we have seen before. It is a learning curve for us all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Wilkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are used to knowing what we are dealing with but Covid, it is almost the opposite of what we are used to. People can look well but their oxygen levels can be saturated. Usually with very low oxygen levels people look very poorly,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow (Tuesday 28 April) on International Workers Memorial day the nation will fall silent at 11.00 as a mark of respect and gratitude to all of the NHS and key workers who have lost their lives fighting Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week tributes were paid to Unite member Gerallt Davies, the first member of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust to die with Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget the minute\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s silence tomorrow April 28, at 11 am to remember coronavirus<\/a> victims who lost their lives serving on the front line. And as trade union members can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make their usual tribute and remembrances to lost colleagues together in person, why not join in an online collective moment of remembrance and solidarity at 2 pm? Speakers include TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady and Unite executive council member and London bus driver, James Mitchell. Register here <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Jody Whitehill <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is urgently calling for ambulance workers to be given clear guidance regarding triaging which patients should be taken to hospital and more action on PPE which needs to be supplied to paramedics, so they are able to do their essential duties,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,17],"tags":[1030,1295,863,1316],"wps_subtitle":"Pressure on paramedics is insurmountable","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21045"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21045"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21052,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21045\/revisions\/21052"}],"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=21045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}