Advertisement

Rural emergency services 'dangerously understaffed': Sask union

Rural emergency services 'dangerously understaffed': Sask union

The Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan is calling for an independent review of emergency medical services in rural areas.

Karen Wasylenko, president of the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan, a union that represents paramedics and emergency medical technicians. She said some communities go without ambulance services for days, others are experiencing staff shortages.

She also said some people have to wait more than half an hour for an ambulance, which fails to meet the recommended national standard of 30 minutes or less.

"We're certainly concerned about the critical staffing levels," Wasylenko said.

Wasylenko cited a lack of ambulance service in the Kelsey Trail Health Region. In the town of Porcupine Plain, with a population of about 800 residents, she said there were 10 full days and nine partial days in the last four months where there was no ambulance service.

In the same time period, Hudson Bay a town of about 1,500 residents went without ambulance service for four partial days during the same period. Wasylenko said the residents in these towns weren't informed about the lack of service.

Wasylenko also said that EMS workers regularly cover shifts at a new Collaborative Emergency Centre in Canora.

Meanwhile, communities like Melville, Langenburg, and Ituna have gone without their minimum ambulance staffing levels.

Melville, for example, often only has one fully-staffed ambulance instead of two for about 5,000 residents.

"This is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul,'" Wasylenko said.

She also said that EMS technicians and paramedics are put on standby waiting to be called into shifts up to 100 hours a week.

She added that there's a high turnover rate for these workers in rural areas, which contributes to the lack of emergency services.

Wasylenko said the HSAS wants the provincial auditor to get involved, because more needs to be done to ensure adequate emergency services.

The health regions have yet to respond to interview requests.