EMS whistleblowers point to major staffing concerns as thousands of Calgary zone ambulances are left vacant
CTV
New EMS data obtained from Alberta Health Services (AHS) outlines a substantial improvement in reducing “red alerts” for the Calgary Zone, in which no ambulances are readily available, but whistleblowers say the data is misleading and thousands of patients are still being left waiting for too long.
New EMS data obtained from Alberta Health Services (AHS) outlines a substantial improvement in reducing “red alerts” for the Calgary Zone, in which no ambulances are readily available, but whistleblowers say the data is misleading and thousands of patients are still being left waiting for too long.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, Calgary recorded 35 red alerts totalling 43.9 minutes, which is a significant reduction from the 514 red alerts totalling 712.4 minutes for the same time period in 2023.
But over the same time period, 13,325 “orange alerts” were reported in the Calgary Zone in which only one to three ambulances are left in the city, totalling 102 hours (more than four full days).
That compares with 56,862 “orange alerts” over the first nine months of 2023 totalling 481 hours (more than 20 full days).
In 2024, a total of 7,816 people who called for an ambulance during that timeframe also had their call go into “pending,” in which paramedics have not been dispatched to them until EMS has more trucks available on the road.
But the problem doesn’t stem from lack of ambulances, rather a lack of staffing.
During the first nine months of this year, 6,101 ambulances were left vacant from the Calgary Zone due to an inability to staff them.
