Region still struggling with ambulance response times
Posted Jan 22, 2016 05:39:08 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Waterloo Region’s emergency services continue to grapple with ambulance response times.
Recent numbers dealing with Code Reds – the period of time when no ambulances are available – are troubling.
In particular, during one month last year, a Code Red was in effect for 3-and-a-half hours.
Regional Councillor Geoff Lorentz calls it “a real anomaly,” telling the Record, “I don’t think it’s ever happened before and I don’t think it will ever happen again.”
On the flip side, the shortest time a Code Red was in effect last year was about 40 minutes.
When there are no ambulances are available, one from a nearby municipality may be asked to assist.
The common reason given for this dilemma is a combination of volume of calls and delays dropping patients off at hospitals.
However, according to the head of emergency services, Steven Van Valkenburg, it’s not that simple.
He tells the paper, “It’s not all just due to off-load delay but it’s not all just due to call volume either. It may be as much as we’re in Code Red for only a few minutes because there’s a big accident.”
The region hopes to have some solutions to ambulance response times as early as this spring, when the recommendations from a new master plan for emergency services will be released.
It’s expected to focus on everything from changing the current dispatch system to finding ways to deal with residents who repeatedly call for ambulances.
