Ambulance dispatchers are 'beyond exhausted,' call taker says
CBC
Burnout and stress in an overstretched health-care system is leading to absenteeism and turnover among 911 operators, according to a worker taking calls for the province's ambulances.
The 911 call taker, an emergency communications officer (ECO) working in one of Alberta's three EMS call centres, says they are at wit's end, unable to keep up with "relentless" 12-hour shifts.
"I can attest to the absolute imploding of the 911 call/dispatch system," the call taker wrote. "Frankly, we are beyond exhausted. We all know the level of intensity work is going to be [high] for 12 hours."
CBC News has agreed to keep the writer's identity and work location confidential out of their concern for their employment, having not been authorized to speak to the media.
The dispatcher contacted CBC News following a story about a freedom of information (FOI) request on employee absenteeism among emergency communications officers in provincial 911 call centres.
That FOI request showed 12 per cent of scheduled shifts from January to April this year went unfilled. There were several days where more than a fifth of shifts were not staffed.
An Alberta Health Services spokesperson says the absenteeism is due to illness, stress and fatigue — something experienced across the spectrum of health-care professions.
The emergency communications officer says call volumes and absenteeism have a direct effect on patient care as operators are forced to interrupt vital lines of communication between 911 callers and EMS crews.
Still, the ECO says, they do their best with the resources at hand.
"I think part of the problem is, too, that all of us on shift make it all happen," the email reads. "We care for our patients, and do all we can to make care available to them."
AHS says system-wide absenteeism has decreased from highs seen earlier in the year when it was 4.89 per cent. By comparison, that number was 7.3 per cent in January, the peak of the previous Omicron wave of COVID-19.
The FOI request shows that in January 14.6 per cent of shifts went unfilled at Alberta EMS call centres. Numbers for June were not available.
AHS says employee turnover is an issue, which was echoed in the letter from the emergency communications officer, who says their call centre has been hiring continuously for six months.
Mike Parker is the president of the Health Services Association of Alberta, the union representing EMS and call-centre employees working for AHS. He says pay equity with 911 call centres run by municipalities (responsible for police and fire dispatch) would go a long way to solving the turnover issue.
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