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Halton Ambulance
How fast can you expect an ambulance to show up when you call 911?
Earlier this month, former Oakville mayor Bill Perras (1985–1988) slipped and cut his head at the Oakville Golf Club. Bleeding badly from the forehead, Perras was taken to a nearby clinic, where nurses assessed him and called 911 to have him transported to the hospital.
Three calls and 35 minutes later, when no ambulance had shown up, and Bill's cut was getting worse, fellow golfer Jim Aziz rushed him to the hospital himself. Perras eventually received 16 stitches in his forehead from an emergency physician for a nicked artery and cut vein.
Friends and family of Bill were concerned about the lack of responsiveness from EMS, prompting Lars Melander, a friend of Bill, to reach out to Halton paramedics for answers.
In an email, Greg Sage, Halton’s chief of paramedic services, explained the delay in responding to the call. He said the case “was assessed by the Central Ambulance Communications Centre as being non-life threatening based on their triage system.”
Sage added, “Within the last year, the Ministry of Health has changed their dispatch processes for the regions of Halton and Peel, and It is not unusual for lower priority calls to be held for a period of time when the system is busy.“
The new dispatch system is meant to prioritize the more serious emergency calls for ambulance response. However, an incident like this raises questions about what the new system means for expectations and realities of ambulance response times.
In response to questions from Oakville News, the region would only say, “Halton Region Paramedic Services are reviewing this situation with the Ministry of Health. To respect the individual’s privacy, we will not provide any further comment on this particular situation.”
Concerns with delayed ambulance services are becoming numerous, said Ward 1 councillor Sean O’Meara. As a member of Halton regional council, O’Meara and his colleagues oversee the paramedic service.
O’Meara said the concern with the ambulance problem has been raised to the regional CAO, the Chief of the Halton Paramedics, and the Regional Council Colleagues. “I do believe the Regional leadership is actively working to address these situations,” O'Meara said.
In this year's budget, Halton councillors voted to add $769,000 to the budget for paramedics in response to rising demand.
Over the past decade, call volumes have increased by 53 per cent. They are predicted to rise another 11 per cent this year.
