IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND, paramedics with the East Midlands Ambulance Service are complaining that they are under so much pressure to return to service after a call that they are not given enough time to exchange depleted oxygen cylinders when they get low.

Even though the hospitals have refilling stations, the crews say that they are not being given the time to replenish their cylinders before they are sent on another call.  In what has become a familiar refrain lately, one paramedic is quoted:

“When we see a patient in their home, we often want to make them stable where they are before taking them to the ambulance, but we are sometimes not getting the option.

“You are always thinking about whether to hold a bit back in case someone later on will have to go without. The point is that patient care is not the priority; getting to jobs within the 18-minute target time is the only thing that seems to matter.”

The Northampton Chronicle & Echo has the STORY.

Firegeezer wonders if this is more of a labor ploy.  How much time does it really take to refill a portable bottle?  Why can’t they operate an exchange system like we do here, where you just leave off the empty bottle and grab a full one?  This newspaper should have asked some more questions.

Addendum:  According to their WEBSITE:
“The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) provides Unscheduled Care and Patient Transport for 4.6 million people in an area covering approximately 6,425 square miles across the six counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

“We employ over 3,000 staff at more than 70 locations and operate a fleet of 850 vehicles. Each year, we respond to more than half-a-million 999 calls and provide 1.25 million journeys for non emergency patients. Our overall annual budget is £125 million.”

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