Paramedics battle 'code red' influx in Waterloo Region

WATERLOO -

Region of Waterloo paramedics say code red has been issued a lot more lately -- when there are no ambulances available to respond to an emergency call.

In December, the region’s paramedics saw 11 periods of code red.

“We are seeing an increase in code reds certainly in December and the first two weeks of January,” said Robert Crossan, deputy chief for Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services.

For context, the region had four months in 2021 where it didn’t see any code red periods. The highest month before December only saw six code reds.

Breakdown of code reds in Waterloo Region in 2021:

• January: 0
• February: 5
• March: 0
• April: 0
• May: 3
• June: 5
• July: 3
• August: 5
• September: 0
• October: 6
• November: 4
• December: 11

Pair the jump in code reds with a record number of call volume in recent weeks, and officials say it spells disaster.

“It’s troubling. We want to see it at zero,” Crossan said.

In terms of what’s driving the spike, the pandemic is part of the problem. COVID-19 patients are taking up hospital beds, meaning new patients coming to the hospital have to stay on the ambulance for longer periods of time.

“Last night we had two crews at the same time at one of the hospitals. One was on offload for 11 hours and 30 minutes and the other was on offload for eight hours. That’s crushing, a shift is 12 hours,” said Crossan.

The president of the union representing Waterloo Region’s paramedics says that’s only part of the problem.

“We need an immediate influx of four 24-hour ambulances to even try and catch up and maintain what’s happening right now,” said Luke McCann, an active paramedic and president of CUPE 5191.

Both the union and the region’s paramedic services agree that staffing shortages are also a key contributor.

“I think the estimate is somewhere between 50 and 60 paramedics have left since January 2020,” said McCann.

The Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service hasn’t seen a rise in code reds, but the problem in Waterloo Region is still cause for concern because it’s a neighbouring community.

“If there were no ambulances available in Waterloo Region ... they would dispatch one of our ambulances to the call,” said Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service Chief Stephen Dewar. “The more calls that we have, or the ambulances that are tied up, the longer our response times get.”

It’s something the union representing Waterloo Region’s paramedics says they saw coming.

“The system was under pressure pre-pandemic,” said McCann.