By EMS1 Staff
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A lawsuit claims an ambulance company denied paramedics and EMTs rest breaks.
NBC San Diego reported that an attorney for Rural/Metro EMTs and paramedics said the EMS provider for the city of San Diego denied crews state-required 10 minute breaks. The breaks are required every four hours for non-salaried employees, according to the report.
“Employees who are tired, who are not given a chance to recuperate every so often, are not as careful and make mistakes,” employment law specialist Harvey Berger told NBC San Diego.
According to the suit, Rural/Metro required crews to “remain on-call at all times and were required to carry pagers, cellphones, radios or other electronic devices, to keep those devices on and to remain vigilant and responsive to calls when the need arose.”
In addition, Rural/Metro is facing penalties of more than $10 million due to missed rest breaks.
Berger told NBC San Diego that rest breaks were more important than money owed.
“Do you want an ambulance, a paramedic or an EMT to make a mistake when they’re taking care of you or your family?” Berger asked.