Tailwheelup wrote: ↑Fri Aug 03, 2018 3:38 pm
"Follow the money" - That is understatement. While there is no doubt that greater efficiencies can be achieved
it might well mean a cost increase if the Manitoba Government applies uniform standards.
At present, the regulatory aspect is assumed to be under the care of Transport Canada.
For decades the provinces have been separately approving pilots , nurses, paramedics etc but
those approvals are basically expenses crews and their employers incur to satisfy the paper work trail.
Back in the pre Onge days, you worked a schedule of 12 hours on 12 off for two weeks then two weeks off.
Now, its 15 hours on, 9 hours off, and then 15 hours later, when you have just had 30 minutes sleep, the phone
rings and another 15 hours starts... By then, you are running on empty, its a blatantly obvious cause of fatique
and the responsibility is entirely that of the provincial governments, who fail to ensure that the schedules
they impose, meet with reasonable expectations of safety.
That's just for pilots, paramedics and nurses get an even worse deal.
It boggles the brain to hear the government talk about "getting a better deal" when you never ever
hear them talk about privatizing police or fire services who actually get 12 hours on 12 hours off.
If you take a look at the Red-est states of the USA, you will notice that the Air Ambulance ops are often
run by groups of hospitals, who dictate standards to be employed , and then run their operations on a cost basis
that is paid for by each patient.
It's the first part of that model, that makes sense. With known standards, it is not possible to obtain lower costs
by contracting it out. The second part is equally a provincial government responsibility.
Everyone benefits from a a land or air ambulance waiting on standby, and the entire cost should be born by taxes
not the unfortunate few who end up using the service whose bad luck often destroys their ability to pay.
Governments who bill the patient are adopting conservative mad ideas that generate terror and destruction.
What's next, american style mickey mouse medical plans that have no real "coverage?
The Manitoba Government has yet to demonstrate any substantive comprehension of its own waste of public funds
or show any comprehension of its responsibilities to the citizens of Manitoba.
Suddenly announcing "privatization" has all the hall marks of the former Soviet Union privatizing state assetts
that robbed the citizens and gave to a few rich corrupt criminals.
We have seen nothing to provide any accountability that the Manitoba Government is going about this decision
with "clean hands" and its that lack of accountability and transparency that raises concerns that
those behind this decision have interests in mind that have nothing to do with the public interest.