An Ambulance Driver Writes.....
I'm starting a new blog about being a non-emergency ambulance driver during the coronavirus crisis. I first applied for the job back in December 2019 and started early to mid February 2020. In December no one at all was talking about the coronavirus and even into February this year it all seemed so distant and I was just happy to be earning what was promised, £400 for a 60 hour week. Thank G-d I don't need much money on top of my pension and having no mortgage. Also, I am twice separated and all my children and grandchildren live abroad so I'm effectively single with no serious commitments time or money wise.
The £400 was a guarantee whereby we are paid by mileage per job but if the jobs value falls short of £400 the company gives a subsidy to pull us up to the £400. If you did the maths you'll know that the guarantee amounts to £6.67 per hour. Many hours are spent on standby. Oh, why am I telling you this? After 4 or 5 weeks of £400 a week (one week I got £491 because of a job from Hampstead to Somerset) they withdrew the guarantee and since then I've earned £230 ish 3 times and £300 once. I should mention, we are all self-employed so there will be tax to pay should we rise above the allowance and we have no leave rights except unpaid and subject to the exigences of the service. Still, it's not about the money.
I really count myself as lucky I got the job before there might, for all I know, have been a stampede for frontline healthcare work partly by people like me who are idealistic and partly because of the expected demand for frontliners and the concomitant money. Certainly my firm which has 49 ambulances has seen a dramatic turnover of staff. At least two drivers went down with Covid-19 and some have left possibly because they might be better off with welfare. I applied for the job because my pension could do with a bit of a top-up and I had done some mobility driving for some friends recently and they use the company I now work for as a taxi service. So, the company is presumably not telling people how bad business is because in spite of the shortage of work for existing drivers the company has taken on 13 new drivers in the last 3 weeks without buying any new ambulances. So 13 drivers must have left for one reason or other.
My eldest son is a medical doctor and he told me that I shouldn't work if I can avoid it and he reckons I could avoid it on various grounds (even just being over 60 cos I'm 61) and claim welfare. He reckons anyone who can stay home should do so as much as possible. He further reckons that anyone who can catch the virus will do and that the aim is to put it off as long as possible pending standard treatments, cures and/or a vaccine. The possibilities for those catching the virus are to get it mildly to badly and get over it, to getting it seriously and being left dependent on artificial ventilation/respiration for the rest of your life to dying from it. I don't think the potential lifelong problems have been addressed very much in the media.
Anyway, having found myself in the right job at the right time I couldn't just walk away. I'm not brave and I am the first to seek symptomatic relief if I so much as wake up with a headache. I actually count myself as very lucky to have to drive all over London meeting new people all through the working day. I know from the experience of friends that if I were to jump in a private vehicle several times a day and meet random strangers or friends I would probably get pulled by the old bill most days, maybe several times. But I am no ordinary Joe. My vehicle is an ambulance and I wear a uniform and I'm proud of what I do and very happy to be doing it in spite of the appalling pay and, yes, the risk.
Yesterday I tweeted about my work and my coming move into more specialised work with effect from tomorrow and I got a moving and unexpected response. See this:
See this WhatsApp message from the Fleet Manager of the company for how this latest phase of my career began: It's to a WhatsApp group which I know not all drivers are on.
No one responded to the group. The FM's message was at 13:42 on Wednesday 15 April. I responded at 14:01. I now know that he sounded out two drivers that refused the work. He even told at least one driver that he wouldn't be posting details to the WhatsApp group but there you see it. Curiously, if you look at the pic, it's forwarded so it would appear the FM looked elsewhere and when he couldn't find any or enough drivers to bite, he approached possibly more desperate drivers. I now know that 12 drivers have been accepted though more it seems were offered but turned it down. Maybe there were drivers who sought the new job but didn't get it. I don't know.
I got a phone call on Friday afternoon from the FM offering me the job and telling me to present myself at the offices on Monday 8:45 am for 9:00 am for day 1 of two days' training and apparently it's a four week gig.
So, that's it for now. Any questions? It's a new blog but I'm sure it has comments.
Ok, later dudes!
The £400 was a guarantee whereby we are paid by mileage per job but if the jobs value falls short of £400 the company gives a subsidy to pull us up to the £400. If you did the maths you'll know that the guarantee amounts to £6.67 per hour. Many hours are spent on standby. Oh, why am I telling you this? After 4 or 5 weeks of £400 a week (one week I got £491 because of a job from Hampstead to Somerset) they withdrew the guarantee and since then I've earned £230 ish 3 times and £300 once. I should mention, we are all self-employed so there will be tax to pay should we rise above the allowance and we have no leave rights except unpaid and subject to the exigences of the service. Still, it's not about the money.
I really count myself as lucky I got the job before there might, for all I know, have been a stampede for frontline healthcare work partly by people like me who are idealistic and partly because of the expected demand for frontliners and the concomitant money. Certainly my firm which has 49 ambulances has seen a dramatic turnover of staff. At least two drivers went down with Covid-19 and some have left possibly because they might be better off with welfare. I applied for the job because my pension could do with a bit of a top-up and I had done some mobility driving for some friends recently and they use the company I now work for as a taxi service. So, the company is presumably not telling people how bad business is because in spite of the shortage of work for existing drivers the company has taken on 13 new drivers in the last 3 weeks without buying any new ambulances. So 13 drivers must have left for one reason or other.
My eldest son is a medical doctor and he told me that I shouldn't work if I can avoid it and he reckons I could avoid it on various grounds (even just being over 60 cos I'm 61) and claim welfare. He reckons anyone who can stay home should do so as much as possible. He further reckons that anyone who can catch the virus will do and that the aim is to put it off as long as possible pending standard treatments, cures and/or a vaccine. The possibilities for those catching the virus are to get it mildly to badly and get over it, to getting it seriously and being left dependent on artificial ventilation/respiration for the rest of your life to dying from it. I don't think the potential lifelong problems have been addressed very much in the media.
Anyway, having found myself in the right job at the right time I couldn't just walk away. I'm not brave and I am the first to seek symptomatic relief if I so much as wake up with a headache. I actually count myself as very lucky to have to drive all over London meeting new people all through the working day. I know from the experience of friends that if I were to jump in a private vehicle several times a day and meet random strangers or friends I would probably get pulled by the old bill most days, maybe several times. But I am no ordinary Joe. My vehicle is an ambulance and I wear a uniform and I'm proud of what I do and very happy to be doing it in spite of the appalling pay and, yes, the risk.
Yesterday I tweeted about my work and my coming move into more specialised work with effect from tomorrow and I got a moving and unexpected response. See this:
I haven't been tweeting much cos for 2 months I've been an ambulance driver taking mostly renal patients to & from hospital. On Monday I begin 2 days training as a #COVID19UK driver. I intend to keep a Twitter diary but I'm not good at the commitment thing. Let's see how it goes.— Jews Sans Frontieres (@jewssf) April 18, 2020
See this WhatsApp message from the Fleet Manager of the company for how this latest phase of my career began: It's to a WhatsApp group which I know not all drivers are on.
not sure if anyone will be interested but here goes, I’m looking for a couple of volunteers, I’ve been asked to support a COVID-19 team moving COVID-19 patients, you would be given all the training and all the PPI Kit, plus a vehicle fitted with a temporary bulkhead ( essentially a barrier in the vehicle between you the driver and the patient in the back) it’s probably a 10 hour day and will include Fri,Sat and Sun shifts pays £200 per day, totally understand if your not up for it but thought I’d ask anyway, let me know if your willing to help out
No one responded to the group. The FM's message was at 13:42 on Wednesday 15 April. I responded at 14:01. I now know that he sounded out two drivers that refused the work. He even told at least one driver that he wouldn't be posting details to the WhatsApp group but there you see it. Curiously, if you look at the pic, it's forwarded so it would appear the FM looked elsewhere and when he couldn't find any or enough drivers to bite, he approached possibly more desperate drivers. I now know that 12 drivers have been accepted though more it seems were offered but turned it down. Maybe there were drivers who sought the new job but didn't get it. I don't know.
I got a phone call on Friday afternoon from the FM offering me the job and telling me to present myself at the offices on Monday 8:45 am for 9:00 am for day 1 of two days' training and apparently it's a four week gig.
So, that's it for now. Any questions? It's a new blog but I'm sure it has comments.
Ok, later dudes!
Just testing the comments and how to control them....
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