Paramedic service challenges and successes reported to council

The challenges and successes of paramedic services in Prince Edward County were shared with council Tuesday night by Carl Bowker, Chief of Emergency Services, Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services, in a Prince Edward County 2024 Paramedic Services Report.

Two ambulances operate 24/7 in the County, with 16 full-time staff – a mix of advanced a primary care paramedics – and access to a pool of 30 full-time floats and 50 part-time staff.

There were 3,450 calls for service from Jan. to Oct. this year; compared with 3,522 for 2023 and 3,356, in 2022.

Overall combined response times were quicker this year at 11:56 in 2024, compared to 12:00 in 2023 and 12:31 in 2022.

Response time in the town of Picton was reduced to 7:06 from 7:44 in 2023 and 7:48 in 2022.

Bowker noted 20 per cent of all calls within the County fall within the coverage area of Belleville and Quinte West. A new ambulance base operating on the Mohawk territory is within the coverage area for the northeastern tip of the County.

In 2024 so far, 45 per cent of the calls for service have been in the Picton and outskirts area; followed by 13 per cent in Rednersville, near Belleville, nine per cent in Wellington, eight per cent in Carrying Place area; six per cent at Sandbanks area and two per son in Sophiasburgh.

Sharing accomplishments over the year, Bowker noted the creation of 24 full-time float positions and the hiring of more than 50 new staff.

He said that while demand for paramedics continues to outpace supply, a contract that expired in 2023 did not produce a new deal and he expects is headed to arbitration in 2026.

He also noted work-life balance is particularly important to the younger generation of employees and that occupational stress injuries and PTSD continue to have an impact.

“We introduced two new programs that will expedite mental health assessments and provide faster access to psychological supports for paramedics,” he stated in his report, adding “We worked with the Ministry of Health to implement a new Public Sector Radio Network that will see a new digital and encrypted radio network to be operational in the next few months.”

He said work continues with the ministry to implement the Medical Priority Dispatch System “that will prioritize life-threatening emergencies more appropriately and build greater ambulance service capacity.”

Response times in the County are better partly due to more staffing here, rather than relying on coming over from Hastings County.

There were 737 crossborder calls for Hastings County to attend in PEC in 2024, (to Oct.); down from 995 in 2023 and 1021 in 2022.
There were also fewer crossborder calls for PEC to attend in Hastings with 659 so far in 2024, compared with 809 in 2023 and 758 in 2022.

“Prince Edward County does not own a spare ambulance but pays half the operating costs of one of the spare ambulances in our fleet,” said Bowker. “The challenge is that there is not an alternate staffing model option beyond what is currently in place. Additionally, the ambulance must return to base for a shift change to occur.

“It’s unlikely that response times will improve any further by adding more resources in Picton. Growth in Wellington, Carrying Place and Bloomfield combined with call volume increases in Quinte West creates a cost sharing opportunity that could be mutually beneficial.”