Patients dialling 999 in a heatwave could have to wait for temperatures to drop before an ambulance arrives under union plans to stop crews working in hot weather.
Unison says many emergency workers are expected to work in conditions 'harmful to their health' and wants NHS trusts to do more to protect members during increasingly hot summers.
Paramedics have told of being sent out in ambulances in 'stifling heat' with faulty or no air conditioning and often with limited access to drinking water or toilets.
This has occurred during shifts where staff have queued for hours outside hospitals to hand over patients, 'often in temperatures exceeding 30C'.
Ambulance workers also describe being 'physically and mentally exhausted' as they spend hours treating patients in care and private homes affected by 'unbearable' heat.
Others are required to work for 'prolonged periods in the glare of direct sunlight at road traffic collisions and other major incidents, wearing heavy uniforms that aren't designed for hot weather', Unison added.
It acknowledges elderly patients in particular are also suffering dehydration and heat-related illnesses as temperatures soar.
But it today issued a list of demands for NHS bosses that
