Overtime without notice, daily human distress, stress: paramedics work in difficult conditions which are deteriorating, deplores a worker with 40 years of experience who nevertheless appreciates the great confidence of the public.
The newspaper publishes tomorrow a survey on the most admired and trusted professions of Quebecers. The paramedics, with the firefighters, sit at the top. However, this admiration does not necessarily translate into good working or salary conditions, laments an experienced paramedic.
“We are the poor children of the emergency system,” summarizes Gaétan Dutil, president of the CSN union which represents 700 paramedics in Montérégie.
“We know what time we start, we don’t know if we’re going to eat and we don’t know what time we’re going to finish,” he summarizes.
Degraded conditions
Mr. Dutil has been practicing this profession that he loves for 40 years, in the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield region. Since the 1980s, he has noticed that working conditions have deteriorated, particularly due to compulsory overtime.
Recently, The newspaper published a file on the difficulties of paramedics in responding to urgent requests on time in several municipalities in Quebec, due to a lack of staff.
For young workers, work-life balance is a major issue since they never know if they will arrive at school or daycare on time at the end of the day.
- Listen to the interview with Lucie Longchamps, vice-president of the Federation of Health and Social Services affiliated to the CSN responsible for the private sectors at the microphone of Alexandre Dubé via
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“If I finish at 6 p.m. and there is a call at 5:58 p.m., it is clear that I will be sent and it will take 1h30,” he gives as an example.
Paramedics earn a maximum of $39 per hour, which is less than nurses, police officers and firefighters. For Mr. Dutil, this does not help to promote the profession.
However, they are often the first to intervene in scenes of daily distress: abused children, abused women, violent crimes, fatal accidents, etc.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
“We would like it to be properly recognized that we have a demanding job,” he explains. I don’t call it a job, it’s a vocation. It’s so hard psychologically.”
“It makes my day”
Despite everything, he is comforted to know that the population appreciates their work so much.
“It warms our hearts. When someone says thank you, it makes my day. That means my job was well done.”