Ambulance crews deserve respect

Recent public and media comment on the issue of pay and increments in the public sector makes no effort to distinguish between the circumstances and roles of different public sector employees in receipt of these payments.

For staff of the National Ambulance Service the coverage has been particularly insulting as they struggle to deliver one of the most vital of public services in the face of staff and budget cutbacks across the health and emergency services.

Despite being trained and licensed under the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council as healthcare professionals (advanced training can take up to five years) paramedics are not even recognised as a grade by their own employer, the HSE or within the Department of Health. Most paramedics work a 12-hour shift on days or nights, though all calls must be responded to up until their finishing time, which can extend a shift by many hours.