Ambulances gridlocked Saturday in Guelph due to offload delays, code red issued

On Saturday afternoon there were no ambulances available in Guelph or Wellington County as the Guelph-Wellington Paramedics declared a code red.

In an email to CTV News just after 6 p.m., Stephen Dewar, chief and general manager of Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service, confirmed the paramedic service had “no ambulances available to respond to emergency calls in the City of Guelph and Wellington County” due to offload delays.

An offload delay occurs when an ambulance arrives at the emergency department but hospital staff are unable to take over care, meaning paramedics need to stay on site.

Dewar said the ongoing situation is dynamic, and any ambulances that come available are immediately assigned to calls that are waiting.

“The issue is related to having more than 10 patients in offload delay at the Guelph General Hospital for a prolonged period of time,” said Dewar.

“We understand that the Guelph General Hospital will not have additional capacity and in fact will have less capacity overnight so we see no immediate relief.”

“The provincial ambulance dispatch system will send the closest available ambulance to all life-threatening emergency calls, but this resource will respond from outside of our area and there will be a delay,” said Dewar.

Dewar said Guelph-Wellington Paramedics and supervisors are doing everything they can to respond to calls for assistance in as timely a manner as possible.

Saturday wasn't the first time offload delays caused a Code Red in Guelph this year.

Meanwhile, a report from Guelph Wellington Paramedic Services shows local paramedics spent more than 4,900 hours caring for patients in offload delays in 2021.

On Aug. 17, the City of Guelph issued a media release following the conclusion of the 2022 Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) annual conference saying representative of the city were engaged in "productive discussions with provincial leaders" on topics, including paramedic offload delays.

“I want to thank the province for their willingness to listen to our concerns and work together to address them,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie in the media release. “Some of our biggest challenges – from ambulance offload delays, to housing affordability, to infrastructure needs – fall under provincial jurisdiction and cannot be solved by the municipality alone. The AMO conference is an important opportunity to keep those issues on the provincial radar and discuss solutions.”