Paramedics across Canada are struggling to respond to emergency calls and provide care due to staff shortages and overcrowded hospitals, with people calling 911 in many parts of Canada facing long delays, sometimes hours long, for ambulances – and further delays once they reach the hospitals. Pierre Poirier, head of Ottawa’s paramedic service, said “level zero” incidents — times when no medics are available to respond to calls — have increased at an alarming rate in recent months. More than 750 level zero events have taken place in the city so far this year, compared to around 400 in 2019. The duration of level zero events has also increased, he said, with the longest reaching nearly 10 straight hours. While dispatchers screen calls, prioritizing the most serious medical emergencies, the strain on paramedic services is having an impact across Canada. In Montreal earlier this month, a 91-year-old woman who injured her leg died during a seven-hour wait for an ambulance. Also this month, in Ottawa, a 75-year-old woman who broke her hip had to wait six hours in excruciating pain before an ambulance arrived. Health experts say these problems are not new and have been drawing attention to the overstretched system for years. But the COVID-19 pandemic has brought additional challenges that are pushing many parts of the system beyond the breaking point. Part of the problem is that many emergency departments in Canada are forced to close their doors for hours or days at a time due to staff shortages. These are often the result of doctors and nurses contracting COVID-19 and needing to isolate at home, but shortages are exacerbated by vacations and burnout. A shortage of medical staff has forced paramedics to drive longer distances to health facilities that are often overwhelmed by patients. As a result, paramedics must wait for hours with patients until they can be safely discharged or transferred to the care of a nurse or doctor. “Discharge delays are unusual,” said Daryl Wilton, president of the Ontario Paramedics Association. “I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’ve been doing it for 25 years.” Mr Wilton said some paramedics were spending entire shifts waiting to discharge patients, only to be relieved by new teams, who had to stay until hospital staff were free to take over. “It’s no different than mass casualty events, where there aren’t enough resources to treat everyone,” he said. The situation is similar in Nova Scotia. There, according to Kevin MacMullin, director of operations for the Nova Scotia Paramedics International Union of Operating Engineers Local 727, discharge delays are 30 percent longer than before the pandemic and paramedics are struggling to respond to calls because of the gridlock. “It’s kind of devastating to be tied up in the hospital knowing there are calls out there that they can’t answer,” Mr McMullin said. Steven Skovorodko, president of the Saskatchewan Paramedic Services Chiefs, said the number of calls handled by paramedics has increased significantly this year and is contributing to burnout among paramedics and hospital staff. “It’s a difficult time for everyone,” he said, adding that the level of emergency calls is unprecedented in his 27-year career. “We’ve never seen the kind of strain on the health care system that we’re seeing right now.” Ryan Woiden, president of Winnipeg’s MGEU Local 911 paramedic union, agreed. He said the intensity of paramedic shifts it drives away younger recruits, who are desperately needed. “I think something that’s important here is not just the volume of calls, but the types of calls and the inability of a paramedic or a dispatcher to decompress from them,” he said. He praised new initiatives in Manitoba that use what’s known as “community paramedics” to ease the pressure on paramedics and help people avoid trips to the hospital. Community paramedics are people with paramedic training who can respond to house calls in regular vehicles when an emergency room visit is not required. The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
