[Dalonian]

In Victoria we do two 10 hour shifts (07:00 to 17:00) and then 2 14 hour night shifts (17:00 to 07:00). There aren't any extra penalty rates for nights/weekends/public holidays, rather you get what's called a rolled in rate which is meant to compensate that. However that leaves the base rate of pay fairly low in the grand scheme of things. And I am seriously thinking of taking a substantial pay cut just so I won't have to miss Christmas/nights etc so I can spend more time with friends and family. Being an ambo can be fairly lonely experience as you lose more and more friends, because you missed that BBQ/wedding etc.

I've just turned 27 and have spent almost 6 years in the industry and am now wondering where to go from here. I'm off the road at the moment temporarily because of a neck injury I sustained at work and am only now learning what a 'normal' 9-5 job is like, Mon-fri and sleeping in my own bed every night.

In short the above conditions coupled with the the stress of the job means almost every paramedic I know has some sort of mental health issue. The sad thing is its really up to us to look out for each other because there's no way the service or government will do anything any time soon to change the working conditions. But how 14 hour plus shifts are still acceptable in 2014 is beyond me.