Thousands of ambulance shifts go unfilled each month in Calgary: NDP

The Alberta NDP is calling for “immediate action” from the United Conservative Party (UCP) after revealing thousands of ambulance shifts in Calgary have gone unfilled each month since July.

Joe Ceci, NDP Municipal Affairs Critic, says the NDP obtained the data through a Freedom of Information Request.

According to the data, 9,629 ambulance shifts in total went unfilled in the city from January to October 2022.

“This profound crisis in our ambulance system will certainly see the number of unfilled ambulance shifts pass 10,000 by the end of the year in Calgary,” Ceci said.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says it’s dealing with 30 per cent more 911 calls than usual and is looking at recruiting paramedics from places like Australia to bolster staff levels.

An AHS spokesperson told CityNews the provincial healthcare system is constantly hiring new paramedics to address unfilled shifts.

“Since January, EMS has hired 364 new staff members (from January 1, 2022 – October 30, 2022) including 264 paramedics. Looking over the longer term, in June 2019, 2,569 paramedics were employed by AHS. As of September 2022, 3,022 paramedics were employed by AHS.”

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The NDP adds ambulance wait times have increased and is calling on the UCP to do more to address the pressures that paramedics are facing.

“The slowest 10 per cent of calls have gone from 12 minutes in 2021 to nearly 19 minutes now,” reads the NDP release.

In response, AHS says average ambulance response times are lower than, or close to its target times, “particularly for rural and remote communities, despite the sustained increase in volume.”

“This reflects effort of the Metro Response Plan (one element of the 10-Point Plan) which is helping to reduce the number of suburban ambulances responding to calls outside the areas where they are based. For example, before this change the average number of weekly calls for suburban and rural ambulances being called into the Calgary Zone was approximately 400. Currently, the weekly average is approximately 130,” a statement from AHS reads.

Ceci says the UCP should have the backs of emergency responders.

“As shifts go unfilled, it becomes harder and harder for paramedics to carry on. The amount of pressure being put on paramedics is far too much and they can not be left alone to carry it by themself.”

AHS says it’s dealing with vacant ambulance shifts by offering overtime, coordinating hiring with other parts of the province, coordinating with paramedic schools to get more students to enroll, and keeping existing staff at work as well as getting injured workers back on the job “as soon as reasonably possible.”