Thank you for bringing this article to my attention Tom, I really should keep up but have been on hol for a bit so out of station. I am pleased the current situation of 'single manned rostered' shifts is being looked at. In my area the reason this is happening is due to selective overtime. This has lead to the union advising people not to do any overtime so the management will re-implement the old system of O/T to cover core shifts. At the moment there are core shifts (days and nights and RRU's) Not being manned, this will ultimately have a detrimental effect on targets and patient care as there will not be enough vehicles to cover demand. The article mentions that ambulances are manned with a paramedic unless the situation is 'exceptional'. In my experience the exception is when there IS a paramedic on the crew. I have the next 2 weeks working with a Technician (I am still a trainee) There are times when the 2 crews on my station and the RRU are all Techs. They are pushing many through the Pramedic training but there are simply not enough people going through to achieve this. Lastly, one of you commenters and the article mention the Highlands and that the crews need to be 'fully' manned with qualified persons. A person I trained with works in the highlands and since she started has been encouraged to work with an auxillary............ as a probationary technician of less than 9 months this scares her (as it does me). The auxillary is trained to drive in blue light conditions and CPR. Other then that they are a 2nd pair of hands but the ultimate responsibilty for the patient and scene is the Probationary Technician............... certainly not something the press would report on favourably I think.