'Not getting any better': Coaldale, Alta. concerned over ambulance shortages
There have been nearly two dozen times when there weren't any ambulances to respond to 911 calls in the town of Coaldale this year and officials say that's unacceptable.
Administration released details of its quarterly report on emergency services this week and says its emergency services attended hundreds of calls so far this year.
"(The Coaldale & District Emergency Services [CDES]) has attended a total of 385 calls and is on track to surpass 500 by the end of 2021, making it another record-breaking year. Of these calls, 252 were responded to in Coaldale and 133 were in Lethbridge County," officials said in a release.
However, it added there were a number of times where there were no ambulance crews available to attend 911 calls, a situation that's classified as a 'code red.'
"To date, CDES has responded to 23 code red incidents to date and is on track to surpass code red incidents from previous years," officials said. "Fire Chief (Kevin) McKeown credits the strain on Alberta Health Services' EMS resources for the increase in code red incidents this year."
McKeown also said the province's plan to centralize dispatch has made the situation worse.
"EMS in the province is struggling to keep up and it's not getting any better," he said. "(It) has delayed response times for fire units being dispatched to medical events.
"One example of this was a medical call in August that took 13 minutes from the time AHS EMS dispatch received the call, to the time it was transferred back to Lethbridge dispatch and the fire department was notified. This is an unacceptable delay."
The report also indicated that volunteer firefighters with CDES logged approximately 3,200 hours of firefighting time, with the 1.5492968 building.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Weather alerts issued for 7 provinces, 1 territory
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury cruise line selling world cruise suite for US$1.7 million
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
Why Kim Kardashian is being sued for 'knockoff' furniture
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
Ontario homeowner on the hook for $27,000 when contractor severed power line
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
King Charles will attend Easter Sunday service at Windsor
Buckingham Palace officials say King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend an Easter service at the chapel at Windsor Castle on Sunday.