Paramedics’ union continues urgent call for more resources as red alerts stress system

CALGARY — The Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) is concerned about continuing red alerts when no ambulances in the province are available to respond to an emergency.

Some of these Code Reds could last a few seconds — others could last minutes — leaving no ambulances open should an emergency occur.

RELATED: ‘Code Red’: Paramedics’ union sounds alarms over staff shortages and forced overtime

“So, what happens is when there are no units in Calgary to respond to your call, then the unit is coming from Cochrane or Airdrie,” said HSAA president Mike Parker. “Then when that unit has been depleted, there are no units, and you keep drawing a circle further and further out from Calgary — that’s where your unit is coming from.”

Parker says the most recent Code Red came this past Sunday when there were no ambulances available in Calgary, which affected the entire region.

“That cascade now brings in Airdrie, Strathmore, Cochrane, you name it, which leaves those areas without ambulances so the service delivery becomes more and more stretched, where ambulances are now travelling hundreds of kilometres to get to a 9-1-1 call.”

Parker says, with the resource levels in Alberta, this problem has been going on for about ten years and it’s exhausting to paramedics as their shifts become extended up to 14 hours.

“We’ve tried a myriad of options to try and get available resources out, the only thing they won’t try is to add paramedics to the street. And, as we’ve gone through the last 10 years, we’ve continued to fail at that, we have not added resources, and here we are.

“We don’t have enough paramedics on the streets to keep up with call volume, hence, we go into Code Red daily across the province.”

READ MORE:

• ‘This last year is absolutely infuriating’: Paramedics outline overflowing issues, system stress

• EMS workers at ‘breaking point’ from daily red alerts, HSAA says

• Calgary sees 3,324 code reds last year, paramedics sound alarm

The union president says this doesn’t just have an impact on those needing emergency services, but the mental toll it takes on the workers as well.

“Now they find themselves driving, lights and sirens, an hour to call. Imagine the stress on the crew that’s trying to get there. The mental impact on these people is just significant today.”

Alberta Health Services admits they are dealing with an unprecedented increase in emergency calls but says anyone that needs EMS care will receive it.

Adding they prioritize the more critical calls to receive care first.