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County of Simcoe paramedics warn of delayed response times due to staffing crisis

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The union representing paramedics across the County of Simcoe is sounding the alarm over a staffing crisis.

The union posted to social media Tuesday warning the public of extended response times, asking people to be patient.

The tweet ended with the union calling for supported paramedic services, noting municipal elections are just over a month away. "With municipal elections coming up, increasing paramedic services should be on the platform of who you are voting for."

The union's president said response times are slower because of staffing issues, as often as once a week.

"Other times, there are response time issues simply because of sheer call volume, the population growth, and County of Simcoe has grown exponentially," said Cory Schepers, OPSEU local 303 president.

The union said the county needs about 20 per cent more vehicles on the road to keep up with emergency calls.

"There were some calls that exceeded our response time expectations. Depending on where those calls take place when they take place, sometimes that will affect our ability to respond as we do have to service the entire county," said Shane Smith, County of Simcoe Paramedic Services Deputy Chief of Logistics.

Smith said paramedics respond to roughly 160 calls a day on average, and the pandemic has only increased the calls for care.

"Coming out of COVID, there's people that weren't able to get to their primary care physicians, so conditions may not have been addressed throughout the pandemic that are coming to bear now. So, I think a lot of those pressures are contributing to some of those increased call volumes," Smith added.

The union is adamant its frontline workers need support to get to patients faster when minutes could mean the difference between life and death.

"Yesterday, for example, the ambulances had to race across the county and have 30+ minute response times. This is definitely not what people expect in an emergency situation," Schepers concluded.

Local hospitals and paramedic services remind the public never to hesitate to call 911 in the event of an emergency or visit an emergency department.

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