More Paramedics On The TTC
Posted March 23, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The doctor is in and the results are positive: having paramedics on the TTC reduces train delays.
A pilot project found that having the trained professionals in subway stations reduced the time loss caused by sick passengers.
“A lot of times we can arrive there prior to one of the topside ambulances having to respond,” describes advance care paramedic Rob Gillman.
“I can pre-assess the patient and if the patient doesn’t require hospitalization and just needs to be assessed and released, we can then save that ambulance from responding up on the surface.”
That means as of Monday, we’ll be seeing many more of the men and women in uniform in the months ahead.
In the morning, paramedics will at Spadina as well as Yonge/Bloor station. In the afternoon, they will be stationed at Union and Eglinton.
The study began at the Yonge/Bloor station in August and later spread to other transit hubs.
Train delays dropped 18.3 per cent in the next three months when compared with the same period in 2007. The cost of the project was billed at $200,000. The city will be hiring new paramedics as part of the initiative.
Ill riders were the leading cause of delays in 2007.
