At least 6 EMS red alerts in Calgary over the weekend caused by staff shortages
Global News
The union representing Alberta paramedics said there were at least 6 red alerts issued within the City of Calgary over the weekend, four of which were on Saturday.
Lengthy response times for EMS in Calgary have emergency officials raising concerns and calling for more resources after several red alerts were issued over the weekend.
Typically, red alerts are issued when there are no ambulances within a jurisdiction able to respond to emergency calls, which requires units from other surrounding municipalities to respond.
According to the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) — the union representing paramedics in the province — red alerts are becoming more and more common.
“We are seeing (red alerts) as a normal daily operation currently in this province,” HSAA president Mike Parker told Global News. “Calgary will circle down to zero ambulances available, drawing in Cochrane, Canmore, drawing in Kananaskis and Fort MacLeod
The HSAA has been monitoring red alerts throughout the province and posting them online on their Twitter account.
The data is provided voluntarily by the union’s membership and not released by Alberta Health Services, according to an HSAA spokesperson.
According to that data, there were at least 18 red alerts issued in and around the Calgary area between Dec. 3 and 5, requiring ambulances to respond from the 15 surrounding municipalities including Banff, Vulcan, Olds, Kananaskis and Black Diamond.
The union said there were at least six red alerts issued within the City of Calgary over the weekend, four of which were on Saturday.