Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services (HQPS) is struggling to meet its response time targets amid a surge in 911 calls and hospital discharge delays, according to a new report.
The situation is particularly dire in Prince Edward County, where data from last year shows the service fails four out of six standards.
“The findings are of concern for the health and well-being of our residents,” Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson wrote in a statement to CBC.
Response times were included as part of a year-end report submitted to the Hastings-Quinte Emergency Services Committee on Wednesday.
“Response times have increased by an average of one to two minutes over the past five years,” said HQPS chief Carl Bowker.
“The challenges are simple. The solutions are much more complex.”
The report describes the past two years as “extremely difficult”.
It shows Hastings-Quinte paramedics spent 2,752 hours on relief delays last year – a 300 per cent increase on 2021.
Call volume and demand for ambulances also rose to 41,660, up 10 percent for the second straight year.
“While ambulance hours have increased, our service has often been unable to maintain full ambulance hours,” the report said.
“These staffing challenges, combined with outsourcing delays and increased call volume, have resulted in increased response times in most municipalities.”
4 out of 6 targets missed
Similar problems have been reported across the province, including in Ottawa, where emergency services experienced an “unprecedented” number of level zero incidents over the past year – meaning no ambulances were available to respond.
Data shared during the meeting showed that HQPS broadly met or exceeded its goals in Hastings County, but the situation was very different in Prince Edward County.
For example, the service has set itself the goal of having a defibrillator at the scene of a cardiac arrest within six minutes, or 35 percent of the time. However, the results show that the target was never hit.
The service also failed to meet its response times for the three most urgent levels of Canada’s Triage Acuity Scale, or CTAS.
Bowker told the committee the cardiac arrest target was “really difficult” to hit during a year that paramedics had to don PPE before treating a patient.
He noted that the response time goal does not depend on when an ambulance arrives at the scene, but on the time it takes to get a defibrillator to a patient.
The report also points to Prince Edward County’s “large geographical area” as a factor that falls short of its standards.
In an interview with CBC, Bowker said the service was moving ambulances around to meet the need, likening it to a “shell game”.
The boss added that while he didn’t ring any alarm bells, there were indications of “declining performance” that needed to be addressed.
“If you have gaps, there may be calls that could be time sensitive that we won’t get to in time. So that certainly increases the risk.”
Chief says “difficult decisions” lie ahead
Center Hastings Mayor Tom Deline asked HQPS to report by mid-summer on the potential costs or savings of adding more paramedics to meet the targets.
“Hopefully the FBI and the province will get their butts off and get something going here for some money,” he said.
Bowker told the committee that despite the challenges, paramedics were reinforced and working extra shifts to serve the community.
HQPS is also working on innovative solutions and hopes to get more provincial funding for offload nurses to get paramedics back on the road, he said.
“Ultimately, we are at a crossroads,” he told the meeting. “Some tough decisions need to be made as local governments are struggling with budgets this year.”
