SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Former employees of the Air Medical Resource Group said they were forced by the company to work shifts lasting seven days or longer in order to keep their jobs.
AMRG, the parent company of Guardian Flight, Eagle Air Med and other air ambulance services, has been accused of putting its employees in unsafe conditions to avoid hiring additional personnel.
“No one should work seven days straight,” former employee Dave Cavins told the Salt-Lake Tribune. “If you are on call 24-7, even after the third day, your mind won’t be fully functional.”
Cavins, who now works as a nurse, retired from the air ambulance service three years ago after the company kept forcing him to work long shifts under threat of termination.
“AMRG is the reason I got out,” Cavins said. “I do not want to die on the job.”
AMRG affiliates in other states have been criticized for similar practices.
Jeremiah Sappington, a North Dakota medic, quit two years ago after being forced to fly in bad weather and being assigned a medical director who was frequently out of town and rarely available to call.
In Hawaii, pilot James Stone was fired in 2010 for voicing concerns about his company’s safety standards. In July 2016, Stone was awarded over $760,000 for his wrongful termination.