** Quebec medics begin work-to-rule as contract talks stall
** UK man given suspended sentence for sexually assaulting female paramedic
CANADA NEWS
** Ambulance technicians in Quebec have begun a work-to-rule campaign in the midst of stalled contract talks. That is the word from Global News (Justin Bulman/March 9) which said the tactics will be limited because medics must operate under the essential services agreement. According to the news service, practitioners will continue to do patient transports and ambulance cleaning. They will not, however, do non emergent interfacility transfers. The numbers of medics at scheduled events will also be reduced. Practitioners have been without a contract now for two years. The main points of contention are improved salaries and pension plans.
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS
** A Polish man working in the United Kingdom has been given 12 weeks custody suspended for 24 months for sexually assaulting a female Ellesmere Port paramedic. That is the word from The Chester Standard (Sam Torr/March 7) which said truck driver Marak Michalak, 37, who has no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the February 26th  crime. According to the newspaper, EMS was hailed to tend him after he passed out in a bar. While en route to hospital, he touched the woman’s buttocks and leg in a suggestive manner. Along with the above mentioned sentence, he was added to the sex offenders’ registry and ordered to pay 740 pounds in fines.
