Hastings County is expressing concerns about difficulty in recruiting paramedics.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Hastings Quinte Emergency Services Committee, Chief of Emergency Services, Carl Brokaw, said the service is “losing paramedics as it tries to recruit new ones.”
He said call volumes are up 17%.
“But, the last time we did some hiring, you know, we had as much as 60% attrition rate through the hiring process. There’s so much demand out there that we’re losing paramedics even as we’re attempting to recruit them.”
He also noted 10 Ontario hospitals had emergency rooms shut down in the last two weeks.
Also, last month Hastings County Warden Rick Phillips wrote to the President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, James McGarvey, expressing concern regarding the difficulty in obtaining ambulances.
“At this point in time, our service is not expecting to receive any replacement ambulances for 2022. This means our current fleet will need to be extended. This will add additional costs to maintain an ageing fleet, increased costs of the ambulances we
had ordered, and most importantly, may increase the risk of breakdowns during a life-threatening response. Currently there are no additional ambulances that we could put into service outside our normal complement if one was damaged or had a major
mechanical issue.”
had ordered, and most importantly, may increase the risk of breakdowns during a life-threatening response. Currently there are no additional ambulances that we could put into service outside our normal complement if one was damaged or had a major
mechanical issue.”
