An EHS ambulance outside of South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater, NS. Photo: Evan Taylor
Over the past year the IUOE 721, the union which represents EHS paramedics in Nova Scotia has been raising the alarm about ambulance shortages.
The IUOE issues a #CODECRITICAL when there is limited ambulance availability in specific regions of the province. Since Monday, July 12, they have already issued 23 of those warnings. Over the past weekend, another 34 were issued.
Barrington PC MLA Colton LeBlanc is a former paramedic and he says he’s hearing from paramedics that the situation is only getting worse. LeBlanc said, “Paramedics are still waiting hours in many cases to offload patients as emergency rooms are overflowing dealing with issues their not designed to handle,”.
The issue is supposed to be getting better as the province just a few months ago started implementing the Fitch Report in January of this year which offered 68 recommendations to improve EHS service around the province.
On April 6, then Health Minister Zach Churchill was asked by MLA LeBlanc when Nova Scotians could expect to see a marked improvement in EHS service to which the Minister responded: “In a month or two,”.
Having now passed the three-month mark MLA, LeBlanc is saying the Liberals are running out of excuses, “This was an issue that is supposed to be getting better and any time I try and get an answer I get radio-silence leading me to believe there is no good news to report,”.
During Monday’s provincial COVID-19 briefing Premier Iain Rankin was asked when Nova Scotians could expect to see improvement. The Premier claimed he was unaware of the specific and advised reporter to reach out to the Health Department.
So far, the Health Department has yet to respond to a request for comments.
Although #CODECRITICAL warnings are being issued all across the province they are more common in the Southwestern regions of the province.
