GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said the "system is collapsing" in straits far worse than the first lockdown last March.
The troubling study comes after the head of the NHS revealed today that hospitals across England are taking on a new Covid patient every 30 seconds.
NHS chief executive Simon Stevens said he could not "sugar-coat" the scale of the crisis on wards and in intensive care.
Responses from paramedics and other emergency workers to the GMB survey include:
“People are dying waiting for ambulances whilst crews are stuck at hospital with Covid-confirmed patients.”
“We had a taxi pull up in an ambulance bay with a dead male while his wife was shouting for help.
“It’s very scary for us all.”
“In 24 years in the ambulance service I’ve never ever seen staff sat on station at the start of the shift so frightened (almost to tears) to go out on an ambulance.”
“Staff overwhelmed – calls waiting are in their hundreds for hours on end with little or no resources to send.”
Ms Harrison said: "This cannot go on – something has got to give.
“Ambulance staff are going off sick in droves while the service collapses around them, despite their heroic efforts.
“A massive 93% are crying out for better protection, the PPE they are given just isn’t fit for purpose, and is a massive factor in why the situation is so desperate.
“Ambulance PPE needs addressing urgently or more people will die unnecessarily, including our ambulance workers.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/patients-dying-waiting-ambulances-crews-23334188
