'Code red' local ambulance shortage signalled multiple times within a week

Waterloo region experienced multiple code red events within the last week, meaning there were no ambulances available to respond to emergency calls.

Last Monday, Thursday and Sunday, code red events happened more than two times each day, according to CUPE 5191, the union representing local paramedics. Code red events happened again this Monday. 

"It's like a tree slowly falling over in the forest," said CUPE 5191 vice president David Bryant. "Eventually, it's going to snap [under stress]."

Bryant said the frequency of code red events have been rising, and can fluctuate with call volumes, which can go up or down unexpectedly at any time.

He said that can lead to situations like the one he said paramedics saw early last week, where ambulances were stuck outside Cambridge Memorial Hospital, waiting to offload patients for as long as eight hours.

Earlier this year, the region approved three new ambulances and one new emergency response unit, due to a 10 per cent increase to emergency call volumes over 2022. Those vehicles were scheduled to get on the road sometime this month.

In a statement to CBC News, James Topham, deputy chief of the Region of Waterloo Paramedics, confirmed the measures were taken "in response to a growing population and increasing call volumes" across the region.

The region had also recently approved eight new ambulances for 2023 and an additional ten ambulances for 2024.

Bryant says that's helpful — but it's not enough.

"What is the point of the new ambulances without staff? The problem we have is recruitment and retention. We can't keep people, we can't get people," he said. 

"This used to be an appealing career, but due to the call volume and the stress and burnout and injuries, it's not an appealing career to people anymore."

Bryant says there's a simple equation to explain why more emergency calls have been coming in: A growing population plus a currently aging population equals to more call volume. 

He says 60 to 70 new paramedics are needed in order to properly serve Waterloo Region.

Bryant says in the last year, they've lost just as many paramedics as they've hired. He says experienced paramedics are choosing to leave the industry because they can no longer handle the long hours and limited opportunities to take time off.