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.