Hi Everyone,
You know I am kind of pissed off at myself because I really should have written and posted this blog a few days ago but I didn’t. Who knows, after reading this blog, you might be pissed off at me too for not posting this blog sooner. This is what I mean.
The first thing I would like to remind people of is that this blog is not only on the Internet it is also copyrighted. That means that I cannot make things up as I go along. Buckle up because here we go!
Today’s blog is a continuation of my last blog’s rant about the striking CUPE government workers in Durham Region. Until Monday or Tuesday of this week, I thought their 3-plus week strike was over because it suddenly fell off the media’s radar but it is not. Or at least, not completely. Yesterday, the striking CUPE members of Durham Region, came to some form of an agreement and if I remember correctly will be ratified today and they should be back to work by Friday, tomorrow.
When the strike was being widely broadcast, their main sticking point in the negotiations was that the EMS workers of Durham Region wanted 15 paid sick days. I am sure we would all like 15 paid sick days which always translates into free money for them no matter how they negotiate a contract. As usual, I have a better way for the EMS of Durham Region to invest their time and the taxpayer’s dollars. It is called training! Here is a great example.
One weekday morning I was sitting on the GO train on my way to work. It was either close to 10 am or slightly after when I heard an announcement between stops. It was for a Code 1033. I immediately closed my book and started looking around. Code 1033 means there is an emergency. It could be a fire, a fight, a medical emergency or something else. Whatever was happening would be addressed at the next stop. That was Pickering and a minute away.
After the train stopped, everyone in the car started looking around. Since no one in the car knew what was happening, we all waited, impatiently. A woman entered our car and gave me an update from the car she just left. There was a medical emergency on the car behind us. She said someone, was clutching their stomach and vomiting. Fearing that she too would begin vomiting, she left. She said the smell was worse than hearing their pain.
Familiar with the area, I spotted the ambulance first. It was heading westbound on Bayly towards the train station. And then it passed it. I am serious. The ambulance, the EMS, the Emergency Medical Services, drove past two clearly marked entrances into the Go train station. The ambulance driver didn’t even make a U-Turn at the lights that are just past one of the entrances. And the road was bare! I’ve seen driver’s make U-Turns there in the middle of rush hour!
Did the ambulance driver do a U-Turn at the lights at Liverpool Road? If you guessed no, you would be correct. Instead of turning back, the ambulance drove northbound on Liverpool Road, over the bridge and out of my line of sight. I, like many others that morning, watched it! We were not impressed. I wonder how the person clutching their stomach and vomiting felt? If they were feeling sicker by the second, they were not alone. No one could believe it.
With the ambulance out of sight, everyone began talking. Someone suggested that maybe there was another emergency somewhere and another ambulance was on its way. I couldn’t see another ambulance and I knew where to look. Searching the roads I saw an ambulance driving southbound on Liverpool Road. It turned onto Bayly at the lights and drove towards the train station. This time it pulled in. Was it the same ambulance that drove right past? It took an ambulance over 15 minutes from the time I first saw it to the time it parked. Even then the EMS couldn’t get their act together. I am serious about that too!
I don’t know what happened to the person they were paid to help. Nor do I know what the other paramedic in the ambulance was doing. I’m guessing the dispatcher was going nuts fielding all the 911 calls while helping the driver find the train station that has been there for over 25 years! I know because I lived in Pickering when it was built.
Does the EMS of Durham Region deserve 15 paid sick days when EMS in Toronto, the fifth largest city in North America, gets less with less pay per hour? Which I am also guessing means that the EMS of Toronto also gets fewer benefits. Seriously? That is what they, CUPE, asked for. And, according to the news yesterday, they have negotiated something that the taxpayers will be paying for with their tax dollars.
The EMS, Emergency Medical Services, on that weekday morning was disgusting! Have the citizen’s of Pickering in Durham Region been conditioned to accept that decreased level of attention because it was not service? That was Pickering, Ontario, not Detroit Michigan!
I am a little curious to hear how the negotiations will pan out. If the news won’t report it, there is always the Internet. I just wish I could remember exactly when that happened. I think it was between October of 2010 and March of 2011. There should be a record of it somewhere. The government loves paperwork. That’s how it keeps everyone employed.
That’s all for today everyone. More blogs to come so stayed tuned. Here is a link to my last blog, www.arebelsrant.com/the-last-three-months/
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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