AAC
I've been back at work just 6 shifts and I have to be honest, I never thought I'd be ranting so soon but I will. Firstly, don't get me wrong - some of the changes, however much I don't always agree with how they are done or how much lack of thought is put into them, are not necessarily a bad thing. It's the way they've been forced through without any care or consideration for patients or crews, it's now simply down to statistics both within the service and nationally.
AAC (Active Area Cover) could be a good thing. If a crew is in the ambulance and in a central point for deployment, they don't have any delays setting off on a call. If they are on station, you have to call them, they have to be told there is a call, they have to get to the ambulance and then get out of station. It may only be a minutes delay but for stations where they have to go down flights of stairs etc, then we have seen substantial improvements in reaching Category A calls. However, it now means that crews will rarely return to station other than for their scheduled break (yet another bone of contention). On a busy shift, it's rare for them to return anyway but on a quiet shift we now have them sitting out on the roadside for 60 minutes at which point, if they haven't got a job, they are then allowed to return to station for 30 minutes (although they are still available for calls). However, I have yet seen a crew not get a call whilst on AAC. We also have to log exactly where we have sent the crew - gone are the days of "can you go on standby in SW2". Now it's "please go on AAC at Big main Road @ Little Side Road, Sw2". They are allowed to roam within 1/2 mile but have to be in the truck.
The thing that really annoys me is that when you only have one crew for a large area, somtimes the station they are on IS the best place for deployment. I had this exact occurrance over the weekend. I had one vehicle for the South of the sector - potentially it was covering 4 maybe 5 station areas. From where they were, via main road, they could access everything fairly easily. But no I'm forced to put them on AAC - they must be in the vehicle. Fine. I call up the crew, explain the situation and off they trot into the ambulance. They stay where they are but they can zoom off on a call immediatly. No No this isn't good enough. I have to send them off station. Fine I saw - you tell me where a better place is. Do you know where management send them. Go and sit on this road - IN THE MIDDLE OF A ONE WAY SYSTEM. It's ridiculous. Now the crew will yake problably an extra 5 minutes getting out of the one way system delaying a call by 5 times as if they were sitting where they were. It is moving crews for moving sake and THAT is what pisses me off. The allocators know the sector. The crews know the sector. Let them decide which is the most appropriate point. I know I'm new to the sector and I have been on the phone with crews and admitted that. Between us, we have then decided the best place for them to go. I can tell them where I have cover and the areas I need them to cover and they can say well if we go here, then we have access to all of that. Surely that is the more logical way of doing things. Looking at a map and guessing is not always the best policy. I personally prefer the honest approach and I think the crews appreciated that honesty (I hope they did anyway - they seemed very nice on the phone!)
I'm going to continue this rant on a second post - it was getting a bit too long!!
AAC (Active Area Cover) could be a good thing. If a crew is in the ambulance and in a central point for deployment, they don't have any delays setting off on a call. If they are on station, you have to call them, they have to be told there is a call, they have to get to the ambulance and then get out of station. It may only be a minutes delay but for stations where they have to go down flights of stairs etc, then we have seen substantial improvements in reaching Category A calls. However, it now means that crews will rarely return to station other than for their scheduled break (yet another bone of contention). On a busy shift, it's rare for them to return anyway but on a quiet shift we now have them sitting out on the roadside for 60 minutes at which point, if they haven't got a job, they are then allowed to return to station for 30 minutes (although they are still available for calls). However, I have yet seen a crew not get a call whilst on AAC. We also have to log exactly where we have sent the crew - gone are the days of "can you go on standby in SW2". Now it's "please go on AAC at Big main Road @ Little Side Road, Sw2". They are allowed to roam within 1/2 mile but have to be in the truck.
The thing that really annoys me is that when you only have one crew for a large area, somtimes the station they are on IS the best place for deployment. I had this exact occurrance over the weekend. I had one vehicle for the South of the sector - potentially it was covering 4 maybe 5 station areas. From where they were, via main road, they could access everything fairly easily. But no I'm forced to put them on AAC - they must be in the vehicle. Fine. I call up the crew, explain the situation and off they trot into the ambulance. They stay where they are but they can zoom off on a call immediatly. No No this isn't good enough. I have to send them off station. Fine I saw - you tell me where a better place is. Do you know where management send them. Go and sit on this road - IN THE MIDDLE OF A ONE WAY SYSTEM. It's ridiculous. Now the crew will yake problably an extra 5 minutes getting out of the one way system delaying a call by 5 times as if they were sitting where they were. It is moving crews for moving sake and THAT is what pisses me off. The allocators know the sector. The crews know the sector. Let them decide which is the most appropriate point. I know I'm new to the sector and I have been on the phone with crews and admitted that. Between us, we have then decided the best place for them to go. I can tell them where I have cover and the areas I need them to cover and they can say well if we go here, then we have access to all of that. Surely that is the more logical way of doing things. Looking at a map and guessing is not always the best policy. I personally prefer the honest approach and I think the crews appreciated that honesty (I hope they did anyway - they seemed very nice on the phone!)
I'm going to continue this rant on a second post - it was getting a bit too long!!
posted by Beaker at
3:04 PM
9 Comments:
"I can tell them where I have cover and the areas I need them to cover and they can say well if we go here, then we have access to all of that. Surely that is the more logical way of doing things."
Ahh, now I see where you're going wrong - you're expecting management to be logical! lol
By
Steve, at 4:16 PM
I think area cover is a good idea in theory but the implementation is just hacking everybody off. 3 crews on stion? Fine spread them out to cover other areas. Couldn't agree more. last crew on station? don't send em out for the hell of it, it achieves nothing as you don't know if your moving them further from the next job and it just winds them up.
By
Anonymous, at 10:31 AM
you cant be reading the aac policy right as they can be out of the truck as long as they give you a mobile telephone number..
By
Anonymous, at 1:02 AM
I do believe you are wrong - I have the policy in front of me right now and there is no mention of mobiles. Get your arse in the truck and stay in it!!
By
Beaker, at 1:47 AM
have a look at page 3, and the 5th point down. thats the one where crews have given their mobiles when "using local facilities". and the wording is pretty ambiguous so the word facilities can really mean anything, not just the loo...
as long as they are contactable at all times and can respond to a call without delay.
it certainly makes the crew a little happier when you give them the option of this.
By
Anonymous, at 10:29 AM
There is no way management will let us leave a crew as GA with a mobile number for more than about 5 minutes so there's absolutely no point. Do you think we like doing all this? I'm guessing you're a BWTS person and I've read how everyone plans to get out of doing it but the way management simply hound us - it's not going to work so you may as well just suck it up. I don't like saying that but that's the way it's going to be. Come and do an observation in EOC and see what we're up against and then you can say honestly who is to blame.
By
Beaker, at 11:13 AM
Just re read the AAC policy - it never actually mentions mobiles. What it says is "Crew staff may utilise local facilities at their discretion, however in doing so and where this mean leaving the vehicle, they must remain contactable at all times and be able to respond to an emergency call without delay". So although a mobile is one way - the more likely response to your request for facilities would be "not a problem - please keep one on rt"
By
Beaker, at 1:50 PM
well i work in control so i've no need for an observation shift thanks.
i think your management are being a tad unreasonable if they are chasing you for a crew GA for 5 mins.
and we've never had a problem with the mobile thing either.
thanks for the "Get your arse in the truck and stay in it!!" comment
that'll help relations with VCS won't it?
By
Anonymous, at 12:50 AM
Anonymous. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows how much respect I have for road staff - most people will have realised I'm just mouthing off. As for your comment "that'll help relations with road staff" read the BWTS and see how good they are for EOC relations!!! I'm not some ambassador for the LAS - I'm someone just talking about what I do and how I feel about it. I just can't be arsed with all this pettiness anymore.
Lucky for you about your managers not chasing - we don't have that pleasure. We have them sitting on our back 24/7 telling us how to do our jobs. If you work in EOC then you know what it's like on some watches and with certain OCM and AOM's.
This is the way the service is going so it's time to suck it up or walk out. It wasn't an EOC agreement it was roadside so what can we do - sweet FA.
There are plenty of crews out there who are able to get on with the job without moaning every 5 minutes so why can't everyone else. If they don't like it then do something else.
And that's my final say on this post.
By
Beaker, at 3:45 PM
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