Paramedics warn of stressed response system
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Ontario paramedics warn that increasing demand and overcrowded hospitals are causing ambulance shortages known as Code Zero.
Chandra Pasma, a senior research officer with CUPE, said documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests to municipalities and the Ontario Health Ministry revealed the number of urgent care calls are rising faster than population growth and funding.
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Delays in transferring patients to busy emergency rooms exacerbates the problem, she said.
“The types of calls that require a very urgent response, like six minutes or 10 minutes, those are the call volumes that are going up,” Pasma said. “So we know those codes are associated with calls like heart attacks, difficulty breathing — all those cases where you need to get somebody to the hospital quickly… With the coronavirus, we’re in a situation where we risk seeing even more of an increase with those urgent calls.”
There were more than 2,400 occasions in 2018 when ambulance coverage was deemed critical — Code Zero or Code Red — in at least one region of Ontario, but the real number is likely higher because tracking this data isn’t required, Pasma said.
Jason Fraser, chair of CUPE Ambulance Committee of Ontario — which represents 5,500 paramedics and dispatchers — said that despite the Ford government’s pledge to end hallway medicine, paramedics often find patients lined up in ERs.
“We’re starting to hear more about more cases of the coronavirus occurring,” Fraser said. “It’s definitely going to have an increase strain on the entire system, whether that be from emergency calls to the paramedic service and/or the capacities in the hospital.”
CUPE representatives said the provincial government needs to beef up funding for ambulance services and hospitals, as well, but did not provide a recommended percentage increase.
The concerns came as the province restructures its health-care system and prepares to deliver this year’s budget.
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Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province’s appointed advisor on public and emergency health, Jim Pine, is meeting with providers of these services before making recommendations on improvements.
“Patient safety is our top priority and we are working with emergency services to provide better services to Ontarians, improving the dispatch system so that emergency services can get to patients faster,” Elliott said.
NDP MPP Joel Harden said 19 ambulance crews were stuck waiting at Ottawa General Hospital Tuesday which meant they were unable to respond to emergencies.
“It is putting Ontarians at risk,” he said.
aartuso@postmedia.com
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