WINNIPEG, Canada — Two paramedics in Canada fell asleep while driving an ambulance and rolled it into a ditch early Tuesday morning.
Neither was hurt, but the incident is being referred to as a common case of work-induced fatigue for rural medics, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.
“I believe it can be related to a fatigue issue,” said Wayne Chacun, a paramedic in the Manitoba Government Employees Union, “They didn’t get a chance to have any sleep.”
Both medics work full-time hours, Chacun said, but must also be available as “on call” or “stand up,” sometimes having to work when they might otherwise be getting much-needed rest.
“The pager went off seven times” during that shift, Chacun said.
The rural paramedic shortage, blamed on the 35 percent pay disparity compared to those who work in Winnipeg, forces medics who do work in rural areas to work more hours, creating the problem of work-induced fatigue, Chacun told the Free Press.