This is outrageous - from Scotland - wonder if unions were involved in this one (got this from Jim Miller)

Tea Is Important In Scotland:  But should it be this important?

An ambulance driver who refused to respond to an emergency call in which a woman died because he was on a tea break is to keep his job.

Owen McLauchlan, 23, was suspended from duty as a technician with the Scottish Ambulance Service two months ago after he failed to accept a call-out. Mandy Mathieson, 33, died after suffering a heart attack only 800 yards from the ambulance station in the Speyside village of Tomintoul.

To be fair, he might not have been able to save her even if he had responded immediately, but he should have tried.

(I did a quick search on this story, trying to find more about the rules governing these ambulance drivers.  If this article is correct, a rule change in 2007 allowed ambulance crew to either be available full time, and get paid a little extra, or to have guaranteed half-hour breaks.  McLauchlan chose the second..

That sounds like a weird compromise between a union and the actual requirements of the job.)

- 8:19 AM, 4 January 2011   [link]