Cuts in Montérégie ambulances

Montérégie paramedics are sounding the alarm at the imminent cut of four ambulances on their territory, the equivalent of 14 full-time positions.

Posted at 5:16 p.m.

Updated at 7:27 p.m.

From 1^isApril, four ambulances from the Cooperative of Ambulance Technicians of Montérégie (CETAM) will have to cease their activities, due to a lack of funding from the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre.

On hearing the news last Friday, the director general of CETAM, Martin Benoit, “fell out of his chair”. “We’ve been asking for additional vehicles for four years because our troops respond to one call after another, don’t have time to eat and work mandatory overtime. And there, instead of adding more, we take four away,” he says in an interview with The Press.

In 2019, CETAM requested the addition of seven ambulances to meet the needs of the population. In the past three years, the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre has agreed to finance four ambulance vehicles from its budget. The CISSS reversed its decision on Friday, announcing that it was no longer able to provide funding for these ambulances.

CETAM says it is dismayed to see that ambulances in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Châteauguay and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville will have to cease their activities. “The vehicle utilization rate is getting higher and higher. The paramedics who will stay will be overloaded. They will crack,” worries Mr. Benoit.

This government decision will result in a considerable reduction in ambulance coverage in Montérégie, endangering the lives of citizens in an emergency situation, estimates Mr. Benoit.

“By losing four vehicles in western Montérégie, the delays may be extended,” which will put patients at risk, he explains.

PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, and Martin Benoit, Director General of CETAM, in October 2021, when the collaboration between the ministry and the cooperative was announced.

Mr. Benoit asks the Ministry of Health to reconsider its decision. “It’s enough to neglect the paramedics. In Montérégie, we have developed a community paramedicine project to unclog emergency rooms. The thanks that we receive is to cut off four ambulances, ”laments the director.

A service delayed by overwhelmed emergencies

For the past few months, the high occupancy rate of emergencies has seriously affected ambulance coverage in Montérégie, indicated Mr. Benoit. “When the ambulance vehicle arrives in the emergency room, it can take up to five hours to sort it. During this time, the ambulances are piling up at the hospital center and are not on the territory to take calls, ”he laments.

In addition, CETAM paramedics are frequently called upon to travel to Montreal, since Urgences-santé, the public paramedical company that covers the territory, is facing a significant shortage of personnel, adds the director.

“When there are calls where there is danger of death, they send the nearest ambulance and it can be one from Montérégie. The ambulance then disappears for several hours while it calls out to town and returns to its home port. During this time, we cannot cover our territory,” he explains.

Under these circumstances, CETAM cannot afford to lose four ambulances, the equivalent of 16,000 hours of service per year, estimates Mr. Benoit.