Durham Paramedics union latest in GTA to report severe shortage of ambulances for calls

A day before the Ontario government imposed a modified Step 2 in the reopening plan on the province due to surging COVID-19 Omicron variant cases, the union representing paramedics in Durham Region reported “multiple” instances of no ambulances being available to respond to calls.

The union posted to Twitter on Tuesday evening that York Paramedics were dispatched to Courtice from Markham to attend to medical emergencies when “code zeroes” were issued. The practice itself, however, isn’t new as paramedics can be sent out of their jurisdictions to provide support to services that experience similar declarations or if they’re closer to the patient.

On Sunday, OPSEU Paramedics and Ambulance Communications issued a tweet saying the Oshawa ambulance dispatch centre was “critically” understaffed with less than half of the normal staff on duty.

Stephanie Taylor, the acting president of CUPE Local 1764 and a Region of Durham paramedic, told CityNews Wednesday afternoon]the issue of staff shortages is one that predated COVID-19, but the effects have been even more noticeable during the pandemic.

“It’s going to keep happening more and more. The workload is just increasing so much mental and physical strain on our members right now,” she said.

“Hearing those code zeroes over the air when the paramedics are already on calls helping other community members, it’s hard.”

RELATED: GTA hospitals, paramedic services experiencing critical staff shortages amid COVID surge

Taylor said there have been several instances of people calling 9-1-1 in non-emergency situations related to COVID-19, which has affected response times.

“It happens every day. People are calling because they think they have COVID, people are calling because they want a COVID test. I don’t think people understand that we are this short-staffed,” she said.

“While we are trying to service the community for those non-emergency calls, we have a backlog of calls for people who are in dire need.”

Taylor said with hiring not keeping pace with increased calls from patients, combined with hospital offload delays and staffing shortages, longer-term action needs to be taken.

“There is a real risk people could die if they don’t have the appropriate services and that’s scary for everyone,” she said, calling on residents to contact municipal and provincial politicians about the issue.

In recent days, there have been reports of staffing shortages in hospitals and among paramedic services — as well as delays resulting from those shortages — in Toronto and Peel Region.

RELATED: Ontario hospital closing health centre in Niagara due to staff shortage

“For the rest of the pandemic, we haven’t seen quarantine numbers like we’re seeing now,” Dave Wakely, the president of Peel Paramedic Union OPSEU Local 277, told CityNews on Tuesday.

Wakely and the union said Peel Regional Paramedic Services declared the latest “code black” on Sunday, meaning there was just a single ambulance or less available to be dispatched on Sunday.

“Part of it has been call volume, part of it has been the pressures faced by our partners at the hospital and part of it has been paramedics who can’t attend work because they’re on quarantine,” he said, also saying there have been non-emergency calls coming into 911.

“Our members have been at this for 20 months. They’re exhausted and they continue to give and give and give, and I mean we’re going to be here until the end of this thing — but they’re definitely tired.”

In Toronto, a recent statement said responses by paramedics to low-priority calls might be delayed during busier times as crews tend to high-priority calls, adding firefighters will now be responding to calls “where there is no clear indication of a patient or injury identified during the call-taking process.” Firefighters will contact paramedics if a patient is ultimately found.

Meanwhile, an urgent health centre in Fort Erie was temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and staff absences. On Monday, William Osler Health System, which operates Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General Hospital, declared a “code orange” due to an increase in COVID-19 patients as well as a lack of personnel.

CityNews initially contacted the Ontario Ministry of Health on Dec. 29 to ask what’s being done to address hospital staffing shortages as well as delayed offload times keeping paramedic crews in hospitals. Despite multiple follow-up requests and assurances ministry staff were looking into the issue, a response wasn’t received by the time of publication.