Paramedics in London, Ont. sound alarm about state of profession

The calls are coming in at a higher rate than ever, but there are fewer ambulances to respond.

“We've seen about 50 to 57 people leave our services in the last two years,” said Jason Schinbein, a paramedic and president of OPSEU local 147, the union that represents paramedics of Middlesex-London, ambulance communications officers and logistics technicians.

“Over the past two to three years we've seen about 50 to 60 people off [work] on different disabilities and leaves, but all related to the workplace,” he explained.

The union is sounding off on the changes to the profession over the past few years.

“A lot of paramedics have their own reasons why they may want to leave, but a lot of us are forced overtime, and there is a lot of band aids to fix the business and not the longevity to keep paramedics in the profession,” said Nasser Kaddoura, vice-president of OPSEU local 147.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, call volumes have skyrocketed, with the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (MLPS) experiencing a 12.5 per cent increase in priority one-four calls over 2022.

Middlesex-London paramedics try to revive a person who had suffered an overdose in November of 2022. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

MLPS estimated they would see approximately 120,000 calls in 2023.

The offload delays are also causing stress and adding pressure. They increased by 56 per cent in 2023 over 2022.

These issues are making it less enticing for paramedics to do the job for which they signed up.

“People come into this profession to help people, that's the main goal,” said Kaddoura. “We want to help the citizens of our area, but I find more of these calls are the kind that burns out paramedics.”

MLPS Deputy Chief Adam Bennett said they are trying to balance call volume with employee well being.

"We want to make sure we position ourselves where we can actually have staggered shifts so that we can meet the demands from the public but also help our staff get off shift on time,” said Bennett.

An ambulance responds to a call in London, Ont. on Jan 15, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)He added, “We're looking to do as much recruiting between the provinces and colleges to make sure we have enough staff available for it. We tried to put as many resources in place to help with mental health and return to work injuries as well.”

The union would like to see an increase to light work or modified jobs. Currently they have just two available, which makes it tough for some of the 60 people off work to get back to duty.

“It takes a long time to recover from PTSD if ever, and we want to see the paramedics have the support so they aren't pushed over the edge where they can't come back to the profession for years and years,” said Schinbein.

He continued, “Our biggest concern is we want to see a profession where people can last until retirement. The unfortunate thing is the way our business is going, we're losing people faster than we can replace them.”