There has been a change of policy at Prescott-Russell Paramedic HQ, in their ongoing battle over taking calls from Ottawa.
Executive Director of Emergency Services Michel Chrétien tells Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Morning Rush with Bill Carroll that county medics who drop off patients in Ottawa will not remain in the city for further calls.
“It’s a long way from Prescott-Russell to Ottawa,” he says. “We have to say once we’re in Ottawa we kind of get caught in – we call it ‘the black zone’ where we get caught in that vicious circle of multiple calls in Ottawa.”
He says council passed a resolution Wednesday making it so that once an ambulance off-loads a patient at the Ottawa hospital, they won’t be available for new calls until they return to Prescott-Russell.
Chrétien characterized it as a management decision.
“According to our lawyer it is legal,” he says. “The county has a right to decide how many vehicles they put on at any time of the day and according to our lawyers this is legal and we are prepared to challenge it.”
The change is expected to come into effect in the next few months.
Responding to calls in Ottawa has been an ongoing issue for rural paramedics. Chrétien says his Paramedics responded to more than 1100 calls in Ottawa in 2017.
He says while the situation is concerning for patients in Ottawa, he has to look out for his own region first.
“The problem is that someone may die in my community because I’m not providing service. That’s our greatest concern. That’s our responsibility to provide coverage to our community,” he says. “There’s a drastic difference in the call volume and we just cannot manage that and we cannot keep on enhancing our services to send them to Ottawa.”
Chrétien says his situation is unique among first responders. Firefighters and police are not called in daily to deal with emergencies in Ottawa.
“Our local OPP don’t respond to Ottawa unless Ottawa police ask them for a hand and that’s only in drastic measures,” he says.
In response, Myles Cassidy, Ottawa Paramedics Service Chief, says "The Ottawa Paramedic Service will continue to abide by provisions of the Ambulance Act of Ontario, including sending the closest available ambulance regardless of jurisdiction, and any directive from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care."
With files from CTV Ottawa.