Toronto paramedic union issues warning after no ambulances were available to respond to life-threatening call

The union chair representing Toronto paramedics says its health-care system is “on the verge of collapse,” confirming that Saturday night there were no ambulances available to respond to a life-threatening call.

Mike Merriman, the paramedic unit chair for CUPE Local 416, told CTV News Toronto that around 7:40 p.m., a call that was “deemed to be life threatening” came in and there were no units available to attend.

Incidents like this are not rare, Merriman said.

“In fact, I would say it’s frequent,” he said.

“The problem is that the service has been, and services all across the GTA, basically have been inadequately staffed and funded for years. The union's been raising the alarm bells over this, myself personally for years, that in the event of a major crisis or disaster, they're screwed because they have no surge capacity in the system.”