
The ambulance companies do not wish to pay overtime or hire enough supplementary staff to be on call while others are eating or resting. They want straight time without penalties for intruding on relief time. This is a safety issue since the high stress of emergency responder work requires breaks and meal times in peace. Obviously circumstances can intrude, but this rationalizes unsafe work practices without penalty for the employer. While the bill offers training and mental and emotional health supports, it is not enough to offset the real harm that unrelieved daily stress would impose by making every emergency ambulance driver on call for the entirety of every shift.