EAS_Intrepid
MSFC Staff Paramedic
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2006
- Messages
- 2,615
- Age
- 35
Hi fellow co-posters!
As you may know, I work as an EMT-B and I am gearing up for EMT-P qualification.
Now I operate in a 12hour day and night shift schedule. Usually this means that you have three days dayshifts, then two days off, then three days in nightshift and three days off again. Days like Christmas eve or new years's day don't matter, since there has to be someone who does what we usually do. Weekends don't count either and since we de facto work with a five-day week this adds sort of a fifth four-day week to a month.
But since I started working this schedule is absolutely messed up. It is not uncommon for us to work four days in day, then have maybe one day off to switch to nightshift. Then two days nightshift and three days off-work again.
The guy who does the work schedule really tries not to be too cruel to us and keep it all in balance, but in the case that colleagues fall out of the roster it can get messed up from one day to the other. Plus there's guys like me who have special wishes, like not having too many day shifts (I just like working at night better).
Example: One broke his leg while his team plus voluntary firefighters were transporting a 150kg-patient off a three story building. Means his work times had to be diverted to us and a colleague dispatched from another station. Another one has a cold and one other is out of work for a month or so due to back pains.
The colleague with a cold is returning in two days, but that still needs us to cover additional workhours. Now the financial planning is so tight that the organization which runs the EMS cannot simply "order" someone at "Joey's EMS Personel" to come here an replace the colleagues.
The 12hour shift system alone results in very infrequent free time. I love my job, but at some point I have enough of sick people (or people at all). My private life is basically on hold. Where others who have a weekend (so two days) off work, I have to spend at least one day to switch to day or night shift.
If you have worked five 12h shifts in a row, you feel like a zombie at the "weekend". I am beginning to feel what this does to your body. Irregular sleep and eat times for example. I got extremly used to night shift so I started to have problems sleeping at night. After a few changes between day and night times, your body needs chinese noodles at 3 am or you are not hungry at the usual times. Sleep disorders and loss of appetite... and I am not the only one. Ask nurses or doctors in a three shift hospital.
However: We are still priviliged to have a 12 hour system. The Berlin Police switched from this to a three shift system. Early, late, and nightshifts.
(same as the above mentioned nurses and docs). The percentage of sick policemen and women has increased tremendously since then. I do not know if there is an official statistic (probably not) but from what I could hear this puts a lot of people working there under stress, because the duty roster is even more frakked up than ours. But they have an advantage. "Dienstgruppen" - squads. These people work with each other every single shift they have. They know who it will be sitting next to them on patrol.
Same as in hospitals. And don't think a nightshift in a Cardiological care unit is a cakewalk....
What I would like for my job would be: Don't start the shift at 7 am please. Make it an 8 am sift. Eight to eight.... that would be perfect. It does not matter I am home at 20:30 or at 19:30. But it does matter if I get up at 5:30 or 6:30.... 6:30 just feels better....
But still I am a lucky guy. No-one tries to fire SCUD missiles upon me while I sleep or I don't have to sleep in a rambling Bradley IFV. Nor does a Drill Sargeant come into my room to politely ask my squad to run a few kilometers.
"What does a soldier define as 'free time'? - The time between the 'Ateeen' and 'tion' from his Sarg."
As you may know, I work as an EMT-B and I am gearing up for EMT-P qualification.
Now I operate in a 12hour day and night shift schedule. Usually this means that you have three days dayshifts, then two days off, then three days in nightshift and three days off again. Days like Christmas eve or new years's day don't matter, since there has to be someone who does what we usually do. Weekends don't count either and since we de facto work with a five-day week this adds sort of a fifth four-day week to a month.
But since I started working this schedule is absolutely messed up. It is not uncommon for us to work four days in day, then have maybe one day off to switch to nightshift. Then two days nightshift and three days off-work again.
The guy who does the work schedule really tries not to be too cruel to us and keep it all in balance, but in the case that colleagues fall out of the roster it can get messed up from one day to the other. Plus there's guys like me who have special wishes, like not having too many day shifts (I just like working at night better).
Example: One broke his leg while his team plus voluntary firefighters were transporting a 150kg-patient off a three story building. Means his work times had to be diverted to us and a colleague dispatched from another station. Another one has a cold and one other is out of work for a month or so due to back pains.
The colleague with a cold is returning in two days, but that still needs us to cover additional workhours. Now the financial planning is so tight that the organization which runs the EMS cannot simply "order" someone at "Joey's EMS Personel" to come here an replace the colleagues.
The 12hour shift system alone results in very infrequent free time. I love my job, but at some point I have enough of sick people (or people at all). My private life is basically on hold. Where others who have a weekend (so two days) off work, I have to spend at least one day to switch to day or night shift.
If you have worked five 12h shifts in a row, you feel like a zombie at the "weekend". I am beginning to feel what this does to your body. Irregular sleep and eat times for example. I got extremly used to night shift so I started to have problems sleeping at night. After a few changes between day and night times, your body needs chinese noodles at 3 am or you are not hungry at the usual times. Sleep disorders and loss of appetite... and I am not the only one. Ask nurses or doctors in a three shift hospital.
However: We are still priviliged to have a 12 hour system. The Berlin Police switched from this to a three shift system. Early, late, and nightshifts.
(same as the above mentioned nurses and docs). The percentage of sick policemen and women has increased tremendously since then. I do not know if there is an official statistic (probably not) but from what I could hear this puts a lot of people working there under stress, because the duty roster is even more frakked up than ours. But they have an advantage. "Dienstgruppen" - squads. These people work with each other every single shift they have. They know who it will be sitting next to them on patrol.
Same as in hospitals. And don't think a nightshift in a Cardiological care unit is a cakewalk....
What I would like for my job would be: Don't start the shift at 7 am please. Make it an 8 am sift. Eight to eight.... that would be perfect. It does not matter I am home at 20:30 or at 19:30. But it does matter if I get up at 5:30 or 6:30.... 6:30 just feels better....
But still I am a lucky guy. No-one tries to fire SCUD missiles upon me while I sleep or I don't have to sleep in a rambling Bradley IFV. Nor does a Drill Sargeant come into my room to politely ask my squad to run a few kilometers.
"What does a soldier define as 'free time'? - The time between the 'Ateeen' and 'tion' from his Sarg."
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