One of the problems - on the other side of the coin - is that ambulance staff are frequently the subject of complaints and litigation from members of the public, patients and their families and - incredibly - people who just happen to take offence for no obvious reason. They all see "A Nice Bit Of Compo" in front of their eyes, courtesy of the American litigation culture which we now have over here. As a paramedic friend put it last year, when she was the subject of a ludicrous complaint from a patients' family: "God Knows what I did - I can only imagine that I forgot to compliment them on the curtains and soft furnishings."