Maeve

You know, with this picketing, and I'm here on a picket line in Athlone, I'm actually doing this interview from the back of an ambulance, which I am finding extremely difficult because I have severe PTSD.

But for me, it's worth it because I think the changes in paramedics and advanced paramedics, their responsibilities and the workloads that they have, it does not reflect their rate of pay.

The reason I have decided, and let me tell you, I'm the only one here from the public, which I find very disheartening because there's a lot more than me had a life saved over the years with these gentlemen and ladies, you know.

And the reason I did it is they're like a mini hospital.

I mean, some of these paramedics and advanced paramedics are trained to administer drugs that can be given in an A&E facility.

to keep people alive.

I mean, last year alone, there was 22,000 calls were managed on scene or, you know, wherever the calls went out to.

And there are protocols to keep these people out of A&Es, which they did do.

So can you imagine last year alone if we had an extra 22,000 people on trolleys around the country?

I mean, they're understaffed as it is.

You know, their resources are at their limits.

These are

people that are so highly trained with degrees and, you know, masters, and their pay does not reflect their education.

I mean, that's like putting somebody into a job on the minimum wage and they climb in the ranks with their education and get into the, you know, upscale everything.

And they're still been given the minimum wage.

I mean, it's very, very unfair that they've been treated unfairly.

I believe they've been treated unfairly.

I mean, for anybody, it's not even, it's what they face.

So when they get a call from dispatch, say the night of my crash, and I can only speak of that, they'll get a call that there was a crash and that there was numerous people in the crash and the crash looked bad.

And that's from a member of the public, say, ringing in 999.