Paramedics union speaks out as LHSC says ambulance offload times decreased by 70%
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) said it has reduced offload delays at both the University Hospital and Victoria Hospital emergency departments (ED) drastically, freeing up paramedics to be available to respond to new emergency calls in the community.
"It was very, very rapidly put into affect beginning in November, and we saw significant decreases in our ambulance offload times in December and January, and we continue along that same trajectory now," said Dr. Christie MacDonald, physician department head, emergency medicine at LHSC.
Ambulance offload times are when an ambulance arrives at the ED that is at capacity and paramedics must continue to support the patient until they can safely be transferred to an appropriate care space.
LHSC said that wait time was previously two hours — but now it's less than 40 minutes.
"So a patient comes in by EMS, they are immediately triaged by our triage nurses, and the decision is whether they go to a stretcher care spot immediately, to be seen by a physician. Whether they go to a hallway stretcher care spot to wait for care, or whether from the EMS stretcher they are well enough to go to the wait room and wait with patients walking in for care," explained MacDonald.
OPSEU Local 147 president Andrew Swan, who represents the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service, said they have in fact seen a decrease in wait times.
However, he said the burden is just being shifted to the emergency department.
"Those patients they're still waiting for care, they're still waiting for imaging, and in some cases they can get x-rays started or bloodwork started earlier. But ultimately before they can be admitted, or before they can be put into an actual care spot in the emergency department, they are just waiting with someone else,” explained Swan.
Swan will like to see further investments made in the health care system overall, including expanding capacity within hospitals.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.