Paramedics waiting at least three hours to transfer some patients at Ottawa hospitals, officials say
Ontario paramedics say they are dealing with a health care crisis because of emergency room closures and health care staff shortages, creating a perfect storm for ambulance delays and roadblocks for timely access to care.
It means the public may have to wait longer for an ambulance in Ottawa.
"We now know that nine times out of ten, when paramedics take you to a hospital in Ottawa, it takes at least three hours to transfer care from paramedics to the hospital," said Michael Nolan, County of Renfrew Paramedic Service Chief.
Offload delays are up significantly and Chief Nolan says it means paramedics respond to fewer calls.
"When you go to a shift that’s say 12 hours and you can only help three or four patients during that shift, because it takes three or four hours for each call," said Nolan.
He says the off-load delays are leading to major delays on the job, including more "Level Zero" incidents. That is where there are no available ambulances to respond to calls.
"It truly is a health care crisis," said Nolan.
The Ontario Paramedic Association says the situation has been daunting for paramedics.
“We have seen an increase in level zeros in the last year, with a 200 per cent increase,” said Darryl Wilton of the Ontario Paramedic Association.
The Ontario Paramedic Association says there’s a number of factors behind the crisis, including the fact that more people are calling 911, more are accessing hospital emergency rooms, and there’s been hospital department closures as well as fewer health care staff on the job.
On July 21, the off-load delay for paramedics to transfer a patient into the care of staff at an Ottawa hospital emergency room was more than three hours for approximately 30 patients, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.
"Overall, yes the situation is getting worse,” said Pierre Poirier, Ottawa Paramedic Service Chief.
Ottawa paramedics have hired 28 paramedics this year. Poirier says 16 of those have gone through training and will be on the road over the next couple of weeks.
"We are not happy," said Wilton. “People are taking it out on paramedics and they’re expressing their frustrations with the delays."
In a statement to the Canadian Press, the Ontario Health Minister, Sylvia Jones, said that the province has added more than 10,500 health care workers to the system since the start of the pandemic. The Ministry of Health said the government’s most recent budget included $7 million in additional funding for a program that brings health care workers to help transfer ambulance patients to hospital care. The budget was presented in April but did not pass before the election.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.