By Don Peat
Toronto Sun
Copyright 2008 Canoe, Inc.
TORONTO — Toronto EMS can’t get paramedics to life-threatening emergencies on-time every-time, according to a four-day snapshot of the system obtained by the Sun.
Certain times of the day the odds that paramedics will arrive on time drop to three in 10 for even Delta calls, the second most serious level.
The snapshot, from Saturday, March 1 to Tuesday, March 4, shows paramedic response times in Toronto are wildly inconsistent even where people could be having heart attacks or strokes.
In those four days, the city’s ambulance service failed to respond to almost half of Delta calls within the standard response time of eight minutes and 59 seconds.
A Delta call is the fourth highest in severity in the service’s five level classification system — Echo patients are in the most life-threatening state while Alpha are in the least.
For all calls, paramedics try to be on scene in under nine minutes but on average that response time is met only 69% of the time.
Over the four-day period, Echo calls were responded to within the goal response time 100% of the time on only two days.
On March 1, several Echo calls — which could be for a child not breathing, for example — only hit the standard 66% of the time.
On March 4, Echo calls received in the afternoon were only responded to in less than nine minutes 33% of the time.
Worse, paramedics told the Sun, they routinely arrive at calls classified as less serious that turn into more serious calls.
Almost seven out of 10 people needing an ambulance for a Delta response, like chest pain, between 7 and 10 p.m. March 3 waited more than nine minutes.
Paramedic union chairman Glenn Fontaine says the documents are more evidence that residents are playing “Russian roulette” when they dial 911.
Fontaine said every time paramedics fail to get to a scene in less than nine minutes, lives are at risk.
“That’s the time you need medical intervention if you’re having a medical emergency,” Fontaine said. “These numbers should be 90% and years ago they were.”
“I hope this isn’t a trend we’re seeing but my fear is it is ... And this (March) is slow time, wait till we get into summer vacation.”
During the city budget briefing, EMS committed to improving response times to life-threatening emergency calls within 8:59 minutes, 74% of the time in 2008.
The best EMS did was in 1996 when they met the established response time standard 84% of the time.
Officials have said in the past that off-load delays at hospitals are largely to blame for delays in EMS response times.
EMS also has invested in SUVs staffed by one paramedic to help increase their response times.
“It’s a great program but it shouldn’t be the main way you deliver EMS service,” Fontaine said.
An EMS spokesman could not be reached for comment.