Ottawa paramedics collectively lost more than 500 hours a day on average in 2023 waiting to drop off their patients at city hospitals — an “exceptional” amount of time, and more hours than the year before, according to the service’s annual report.
The Ottawa Paramedic Service failed to meet response time targets for life-threatening and urgent calls in part due to the delay, the report says.
Paramedics spent an average of 559 hours a day last year waiting to offload patients at emergency departments, an increase of 8.6 per cent over 2022.
Offload delays also contributed to 1,672 instances when no paramedics were available to respond to calls within the city, the report said — situations also known as “level zero” events.
“It’s not uncommon for me to walk into work and down our main corridor being flanked by paramedics waiting to offload a patient onto a stretcher,” said Michael Herman, an emergency physician at the Queensway Carleton Hospital and representative of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.
Offload time refers to the period that begins when paramedics arrive at the emergency department and ends when their patient is placed in a bed and care is handed over to ER staff.
During that time, paramedics are primarily responsible for caring for their patients, Herman said, which keeps them from returning to active duty.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Herman said.
“Every one of us who works in an emergency department is dispirited seeing people who need our care, who need our help, waiting and waiting for a bed space to open up so that they can be seen.”
‘A situation that nobody likes’
In an emailed statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for The Ottawa Hospital said offload delays are a concern. In an effort to mitigate offload issues, the hospital has created more space for patient beds and boosted staff recruitment efforts, they said.
“It’s really a situation that nobody likes and benefits nobody. So it’s quite unfortunate,” Herman said.
One potential solution, he said, could entail integrating paramedics, hospitals, long-term care facilities and other stakeholders into one system to improve communication — and ultimately also improve patient flow.
“This is a provincial problem, and I think big problems require bigger solutions,” Herman said.
Councillors calling for help
River ward Coun. Riley Brockington, chair of the city’s emergency preparedness and protective services committee, said he’s preparing a motion calling on Ontario’s health minister to both acknowledge the dire situation in Ottawa’s emergency rooms and to provide assistance.
“The Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, must acknowledge that this is a problem and she must direct resources to hospitals in Ottawa and across Ontario,” Brockington said.
“Hospitals have a significant number of patients. They have their own staffing challenges. We have a lack of primary care in the city of Ottawa and Ontario. So a lot of people, their first stop is the ER.”
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante, who sits on the committee, echoed Brockington’s statements and is also calling on the provincial and federal governments for assistance.
“We really need a lot of leadership from the province and the feds on this issue. There’s not enough mental health beds, there’s not enough family doctors,” Plante said.
“We’re doing what we can, but we really need those other levels to step up.”
The committee is expected to discuss the service’s annual report on June 17.