Paramedic system strained even when Code Black not in effect, warns Essex-Windsor EMS union

Code Blacks in Windsor-Essex Paramedic system strained even when not in Code Black, warns Essex-Windsor EMS union. Sanjay Maru reports

Following another series of Code Blacks in Essex County this week, the union representing EMS workers is reminding residents the paramedic system remains overwhelmed — even at times when Essex-Windsor EMS is not officially in Code Black.

CUPE Local 2974 said the region entered Code Black "three or four times" during a three-hour span Wednesday afternoon, with ambulance wait times reaching 50 minutes.

"We had multiple times where our closest response was coming from Wallaceburg," said local union president James Jovanovic.

A Code Black, which refers to instances when there are no ambulances available to immediately respond to someone in need, has been declared several times throughout the last few weeks.

According to Jovanovic, Code Black declarations started to see a resurgence this past May, after Essex County council reallocated staffing resources from night shifts to days.

"Our days did need enhanced resources. But not at the expense of nights ... The same issues that we faced on days where crews will go 12 hours without a break were now becoming more apparent on nights," he said.

"So with the more call-ins you get for sick, it strains the system that much more because now you're down staffing ambulances. You have less resources."

But Jovanovic warns that while Code Blacks are a serious issue, the system is still seeing challenges when they are not in effect.

"When we are not technically in our labelled Code Black status, that just means we have one available ambulance to respond for the entirety of Essex County," he said.

"That means if you're in downtown Windsor and you have an emergency, you might be looking at the closest response coming from Leamington, which is 45 to 50 minutes away."

Essex-Windsor EMS chief Bruce Krauter tells CTV News his team recently met with County of Essex and the Ontario Ministry of Health officials to discuss proposed solutions to this "province-wide crisis."

One proposed solution, Krauter said, is creating incentives for "hospitals to meet 30-minute offload targets" and enforcing consequences for those that fail to meet the targets.

Krauter added ambulance offload delays need to be considered a "public health risk" and can last up to 12 hours in some cases. During an offload, paramedics wait outside the emergency room until the patient is admitted into the hospital.

"The causes are complex and related to longstanding systemic issues related to hospital capacity, patient flow, and a lack of local primary care providers, which causes increased usage of the 911 system," said Krauter.

"Essex-Windsor EMS has worked with our local hospital partners to reduce offload delays and has encouraged residents to seek alternative forms of care for non-emergency cases. But Essex Windsor EMS transports still account for 35 per cent of emergency room visits compared to a provincial average between 10 and 15 per cent. This is unsustainable."

In a statement to CTV News, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said the province is collaborating with Ontario Health, local paramedic services and hospital leaders to increase ambulance availability and reduce offload times.

One part of the province's strategy, Jones said, is encouraging communities to adopt initiatives such as "Fit2Sit" which enables some ambulance patients to be monitored in a chair in emergency departments.

Among the Ontario government's other strategies include the recent approval new models of care for 911 mental health and addictions calls and a boost of funding toward recruiting and training more health care workers.

When asked what the union wants to see to reduce ambulance wait times, Jovanovic said all levels of government need to do a better job acknowledging the severity of the current situation and sharing that reality with the public.

"These issues in EMS have been going on for decades. We've been trending into this spiral for far longer than just the last several years. There is no way out unless the public becomes aware and becomes involved to the point of mandating change," he said.

"It's fitting that we're coming up on municipal elections but that's a great place to start. Vote for people who are going to take responsibility and accountability and bring on proper change to a broken system."

Essex Windsor-EMS has a list on its website, advising the public of the appropriate time to call an ambulance.

Some urgent matters include loss of consciousness, sudden confusion, trouble speaking, dizziness, severe chest pain, breathing difficulty or shortness of breath, broken bones or bleeding.

Other options to speak to a health care professional include contacting your doctor or going to a walk-in clinic, calling Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 or using alternate transportation to go to a hospital emergency room.