(File photo/980 CJME)

By paNOW Staff

NO AMBULANCE AVAILABLE

Northern communities at the top for ‘No Ambulance Available’ calls in 2023

Apr 3, 2023 | 2:36 PM

Saskatchewan’s Opposition says hundreds of residents were left in the dark by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) in the first three months of the year with no ambulances available.

Documents obtained by the Sask. NDP in a freedom of information request shows that in the first six weeks of 2023, the SHA did not have an ambulance available to respond to 216 calls.

This did not include areas serviced by private ambulances, such as Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

According to the numbers, several communities in the north were told that there was ‘No Ambulance Available’ (NAA). Buffalo Narrows was second on that list with 24 NAA scenarios and Meadow Lake was third with 17.

Other northern communities in the data included Maidstone and La Loche which had six no ambulance calls; Beauval had five, Ile-a-la-Crosse, Wilkie and Cut Knife had four, while Unity had three.

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Regina topped the list with 49 incidents.

“People with heart-attack symptoms are denied ambulances because this Sask. Party government has failed to support EMS workers who say they’re completely burnt out and considering leaving,” said Vicki Mowat, Sask. NDP’s Health Critic.

“At best, Scott Moe is out of touch with the problems in our hospitals – at worst, he’s downplaying the mess he’s made. Whatever the truth, the longer Moe’s in power, the longer folks will wait for care,” added Matt Love, Sask. NDP’s Rural and Remote Health.

The NDP made this request for data after the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan (HSAS) criticized the government’s slight increase in EMS funding, saying it would not hold with the paramedic staffing crisis.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow