OVIEDO, Fla. -- Oviedo paramedics were forced to work for four straight days because of a shortage. City leaders said it was an unsafe situation.

Oviedo city leaders questioned how anyone could make life-saving decisions after working for four days. That's twice as long as some other Central Florida paramedics are allowed to work.

One firefighter was so concerned about the long hours, he emailed city hall and got the attention of the city council.

GET WFTV NEWS HEADLINES BY EMAIL 9 a.m. Headlines Noon Headlines 4 p.m. Headlines News of the Strange Breaking News Alerts

The two Oviedo paramedics started their shifts on November 23 and worked straight through to November 27 for a total of 96 hours on the clock. Orange County only allows crews to work 48 hours straight, half as long.

The paramedics can rest on duty, but they were busy this weekend. There were 15 calls for one of the medics and 11 for the other. Their colleagues were so concerned, the president of the union wrote the city council that "96 hours is not the norm and should be considered unsafe."

"My reaction was that is too long to be working," said city council member Steven Henken.

Henken was concerned about complicated medical decisions the paramedics made in their final hours on the job.

"When they're working on someone, they're not going to be fresh," he said.

Oviedo has nine paramedics split between three stations. That weekend, one called in sick and another called in with a family emergency.

"We need to hire more paramedics so we have people in the dugout ready to step in," Henken said.

The fire chief crafted a new policy where paramedics can only work three days straight. He's also training more firefighters as paramedics so they can fill in.

The chief said it should ensure the people who respond in an emergency are rested enough to make the clear, accurate decisions. If more than one paramedic calls in sick, the chief said they would rely on Seminole County Fire Rescue to fill the void rather than having anyone work such a long shift again.